Joint Meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee of Senior Officials and Experts for the North and West African Countries

I wish to express my sincere appreciation for the invitation to deliver these opening and goodwill messages on behalf of the UN Country Team. I also wish to especially welcome Colleagues and Senior Government Officials to Accra, Ghana.

Let me take this opportunity to commend UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), and the Committee of Senior Officials and Experts for organizing this important joint meeting, and for your immense contribution to the thought leadership and policy advisory services towards the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

As I understand, this joint meeting is an assembly of UN and government experts from 15 West and 7 North African countries to discuss issues of common interest, share experiences, best practices and peer learn to inform policies and service delivery for circa 700 million population in these two sub-regions - Maghreb Arab Union and ECOWAS – about half of Africa’s population.

Much as there may be similarities of prospects and challenges of inclusive and sustainable economic growth, the required policy response measures for transformation may differ across the sub-regions.

The importance of this joint meeting, therefore, cannot be overemphasized. It reaffirms the need for enhanced South-South cooperation, offering the opportunity to share best practices and peer learn. And I must commend ECA for organizing this.

Africa and the World have invested substantial efforts towards achieving the Goals, and the Africa Agenda 2063, yet progress has been mixed, amidst new challenges and rapidly changing global, regional, sub-regional and national contexts. The lingering effects of COVID-19 and successive global crises including impacts of climate disasters, persisting and lingering conflict, and economic and political instabilities, have constrained development efforts, particularly in Africa in recent times.

A recent report by UNCTAD estimates that the world would require additional financing of at least US$6.9 trillion to reach the Goals by 2030. Around 3.3 billion people live in countries that spend more on debt interest payments than on essential public services such as education and health. Finding this kind of investment will likely be extremely difficult for countries with limited resources – and debt.

Halfway to the deadline for the 2030 Agenda, the SDG Progress report reveals we are leaving more than half the world behind; and we have stalled or gone into reverse on more than 30 percent of the SDGs.

It shows the number of people living in extreme poverty is higher than it was four years ago.  Hunger has also increased and is now back at 2005 levels, and gender equality seems to be some 300 years away.  It is estimated that, with current trends, only 30 percent of all countries will achieve SDG 1 on poverty by 2030.  At the same time, inequalities are at a record high, and growing.

For instance, while Ghana, like many other nations, has set ambitious targets for 2030, progress remains hindered, and it faces the challenge of securing the necessary resources to close the country’s annual financing gap of US$43 billion. This is estimated to have widened by the global and debt crises. With the support of the IMF US$3 billion Extended Credit Facility Programme, the UN and other development partners, Ghana’s Post-Covid Programme of Economic Growth (PC-PEG) seeks to return Ghana’s economy towards sustainable growth path.

If we do not act now, many developing countries could face a downward spiral of slow growth, social unrest, debt distress, reduced investment and production, and diminished trade, all fueling further economic underperformance and political unrest. This would not be ‘the more prosperous’, ‘the more equitable’, and ‘the more sustainable future’ ‘for the Africa we all desire’.

Ghana’s participation in the 2023 SDG Summit is an important signal of its political commitment and reaffirmation of government’s unwavering desire to achieve the SDGs, leaving no one behind. Working towards Ghana beyond aid, the country has taken bold and significant steps by establishing strong institutional mechanisms, identified pathways to accelerate SDGs and is implementing high impact initiatives. Ghana has also embarked on accelerator actions and innovative financing approaches to accelerate attainment of the SDGs.

Ghana has chosen the path to prioritize five SDG targets (focusing on effective, accountable, and transparent institutions; productive employment and decent work; equitable and quality primary and secondary education; adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene; and improvement in energy efficiency) where further investments are needed to bring progress that can lead to transformative progress across board.

These priorities fairly align with the need for countries to focus on the six accelerated and transformation actions and/or transitions emphasized by the 2023 SDG Summit to achieve sustainable development (i) social protection and decent jobs, (ii) transforming education, (iii) food systems, (iv) climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, (v) energy transition and (vi) inclusive digitization.

Permit me to ask you all to look to the future. The Summit of the Future, to be held in September 2024, will bring world leaders together to forge a new international consensus on how we deliver a better present and safeguard the future. It will adopt an inter-governmentally negotiated Pact for the Future, reaffirm the United Nations Charter; reinvigorate multilateralism; boost implementation of existing commitments; and agree on solutions to new challenges. It will work towards a Pact covering five key areas: Sustainable Development & Financing for Development; International Peace and Security; Science, Technology and Innovation, and Digital Cooperation; Youth and Future Generations; and Transforming Global Governance. We strongly encourage Ghana to be at the forefront of this important global dialogue, under the co-chairship of Namibia and Germany.

I must emphasize that the two crucial topics you have chosen to discuss - (i) transition to renewable resources for energy and (ii) food security - have the power to reshape the future of Africa’s economies and contribute significantly to the global sustainability agenda.

I urge you to reflect on pragmatic solutions to the pertinent issues across the subregion. Solutions that will enable sustainable transformation of our economies - a few of which I enumerate below:

• Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL): How can African countries and governments cash in on this initiative to catalyze finance for investments priorities towards reaching net-zero.
• Analysis of Prospects from Climate Finance, COP28, CFV, etc: What robust analysis can we do to recommend optimal approaches, competitive advantages and prospects for African countries and government advance and benefit from reforms to global climate financial architecture including Carbon Markets and Trading, Climate Vulnerable Forum and their Climate Vulnerability Plans, outcomes from the Africa Climate Summit, etc.
• AfCFTA Prospects: Leveraging our competitive advantages to ensure AfCFTA produces the outcomes we all desire – such as strengthening and growing our MSMEs and infant industries towards Africa’s industrial transformation.
• Addressing the financing challenge: Using all means possible to enhance sustainable financing for Africa. Boosting domestic revenues, strengthening public financial management systems to address inefficiencies and leakages, while leveraging innovative financing and navigating the complexities of the global financial architecture to attract the needed capital.
• Role of Private Sector: We urgently need powerful private sector partnerships that invest in the transitions and priorities necessary to accelerate development progress and get the SDGs back on track. What are the right interventions to enhance the role of private sector and to catalyze significant private capital for sustainable development.
• Systems-wide/ whole-of-society approaches: Strengthening our collaboration and cooperation through system-wide and whole-of-society approaches – one that draws upon every aspect of the richness and talent of our diverse societies.
• Resilience against shocks: Policy measures that strengthen our local economies against external and shocks, as there seem to be no end in sight to the global crises.
• Fostering Innovation Ecosystems: What environment can we create for innovation to thrive? What partnerships can nurture between governments, academia, and the private sector to drive technological advancements and creative solutions.
• Strengthening and growing our entrepreneurs: What capacity and technical assistance can we provide to equip our entrepreneurs with the skills, knowledge, and technologies they need to succeed? How can we grow our SMEs and support them in in areas such as digitalization, sustainable practices, and market access.
• Balancing development needs with sustainable debt, and
• Creating incentives to maintain peace and security in Africa.

The UN Country Team in Ghana continue to support Ghana’s ambitious efforts through the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (2023-25).  We are working in close collaboration with all stakeholders, including the private sector and civil society, to support the government's development priorities through our three priority areas - (i) Inclusive and Sustainable Economic Growth and Transformation, (ii) Accessible, Inclusive, Sustainable Quality Basic Social Services, (iii) Durable Peace and Security in Ghana and the Subregion. Our approach has a cross-cutting focus on leaving no one behind, embracing a human rights-based perspective, promoting gender equality and women's empowerment, building resilience and sustainability, and enhancing accountability as well as supporting Ghana on critical issues such as climate transformation, digitalization, and urbanization. These align with the six transitions, government SDG priorities and are adaptive to the seven priorities of ‘Summit of the Future’.

As I conclude, I wish to express profound appreciation once again to the Economic Commission for Africa for sustaining these meetings. And also commend the members of the Committee of Senior Officials and Experts for their efforts and thought leadership.

I would like to encourage all of you to think creatively and boldly about how we can best ensure the delivery of valued and quality public goods and services.

With our collective efforts, let us remain confident that the integrated nature of the SDGs offers us more opportunities to collaborate and build further partnerships, as we use these platforms to identify policy actions and programmatic interventions. This enables us to provide the needed support that is consistent with development priorities, which are integral to our leave no one behind principles, able to transform and revitalize peace and sustainable development for ‘The Africa We Want’.

Welcome to Accra, Ghana and I wish you fruitful deliberations.

Thank you.