Lafarge Confab Participants: Nigeria Needs Intense Public, Private Partnerships to Achieve SDGs
Bennett Oghifo The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic has presented an extraordinary moment that requires keen collaboration to find creative and innovative ways to build more equal, inclusive and resilient societies.
The Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on SDGs, Princess Adefulire, stated this in her keynote address during the first of four sustainability webinar series by Lafarge Africa.
Adefulire, who was represented by her Senior Technical Advisor, Dr. Bala Yusuf, re-affirmed Nigeria’s commitment to achieving the SDGs in a post-COVID era, adding “We must urgently build-back, if we are to be on track to achieve the SDGs by 2030. The theme of this Webinar ‘The Decade of Action: Advancing the SDGs in a post pandemic era’ “is suitable, timely and a clear manifestation of your collective commitment to the achievement of the SDGs in Nigeria and Africa at large.
She laid the framework for discussions, stating that in September 2015, World Leaders adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as a successor development framework to the Millennium Development Goals. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development envisions a present and a future that is economically sustainable, socially inclusive and environmentally resilient. This vision is expressed through the 17 SDGs; 169 targets and 230 Key Performance Indicators. Put it simply, the SDGs are a universal call to action to end poverty, safeguard the planet and ensure all people enjoy peace and prosperity by the year 2030.
“We need the expertise and financial resources of all – the public and private sectors, development partners, scientific community, and the wider civic society. It is only then that we can forge productive partnerships that can deliver the 2030 Agenda for sustainable Development.”
The four webinars in terms of Lafarge Africa’s Sustainability webinar series began on Wednesday, August 19 and will end on the 9th of this month. The first week of the webinar had thought leaders and speakers focus on ‘Environmental and Social Governance: A transformative approach toward accelerating the SDGs’; the second, which took place last week, was on “Co-creating value through best practices in Private Public Partnership and impact assessment for the SDGs”; the third will take place tomorrow and the theme is “Corporate Social Investments, Shared Value and National Development - Which Way Forward?”; the last webinar will take place next week and its focus will be “Roadmaps to Progressing the SDGs: opportunities in Circular Economy and Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics.”
Last week’s webinar, which was the second, had in attendance thought leaders and speakers including, the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, represented by his Technical Adviser, Mahmud Mohammed; His Highness, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, UN SDG Advocate; Sanda Ojiambo, Executive Director, United Nations Global Compact; Magali Anderson, Chief Sustainability Officer, LafargeHolcim; Professor Chris Ogbechie, Professor of Strategic Management, and Deputy Dean Lagos Business School, and Folashade Ambrose-Medebem, Communication, Public Affairs, and Sustainable Development Director, Lafarge Africa, who were moderators. The host was Khaled El-Dokani, Country Chief Executive Officer, Lafarge Africa.
The Senior Special Assistant to President Buhari on SDGs said one of the most effective ways to building resilient societies was by strengthening existing partnerships between the public and private sectors and other critical stakeholders. “We have seen classical demonstrations of these partnerships in the fight against COVID-19. The Lafarge Africa Sustainability Series is in line with our idea of the Private Sector Advisory Group on SDGs, which is to create a strategic platform for galvanising ideas, mobilising expertise and financial resources in support of the achievement of the SDGs in Nigeria.”
She said financing sustainable development was not just about mobilising capital for specific projects and programmes. “It is equally about ensuring the organised private sector becomes adapted to financing for sustainable development, by altering the way in which private finance operates so that its own processes are both sustainable and support sustainability.”
Making reference to the Nigeria iSDG Report (2019), she said funding remained a critical challenge to overcome. “As such, there is need to work fast in scaling-up efforts to expand the fiscal space for SDGs implementation in Nigeria. In this ‘Decade of Action’, there is need to look into ways of mobilising additional resources and minimising wastage in the application of scarce public resources. There is need to draw on non-traditional sources of public finance - Public-Private Partnerships (PPP), impact investments and strategic Bonds as appropriate.”
She said funding alone is insufficient to guarantee the attainment of the SDGs in Nigeria, quoting the recent IMF Report (2020) on SDGs spending in Nigeria which noted that “…beyond resources, improving coordination and strengthening governance is critical to delivering on the SDGs. Progress will require a whole-of-government approach, supported by strong coordination between the federal, state, and local governments.”
As carefully enumerated in Nigeria’s 2020 Voluntary National Review Report, going forward in a post-COVID era, we need to; Judiciously use the re-aligned National Statistical System (NSS) to effectively track and monitor the implementation of the SDGs on annual basis. This will inform targeted SDGs’ interventions across the country, she said. “Consciously use the Nigeria iSDG simulation model to develop the next National Development Plan (2021-2025) and support the domestication of the Planning Model across the 36 states; Design and implement the Integrated National Financing Frameworks (INFF) for the SDGs. This will provide a snap-shot of all the existing and potential financing sources for the SDGs in Nigeria, and unlock innovative financing mechanisms to support the implementation of the SDGs.
She said there was need to work closely with state and non-state actors to cascade and strengthen advocacy for the SDGs across the 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Nigeria; Effectively mobilise and engage all the key segments of the society – the United Nations system; diplomatic community; organised private sector; civil society; academia; philanthropists; foundations and concerned citizens - in a ‘whole-of-society’ for the achievement of the SDGs.