UN, FG seek innovative financing to fast-track SDGs before 2030

Nigeria and the United Nations are calling for urgent action and innovative financing to fast-track the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) before the 2030 deadline. The joint call came during a steering committee meeting for the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework 2023-2027 in Abuja.

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2030 is around the corner and I mean for the United Nations as well as for many countries there is urgency, there is the need to do more in the very short time that remains for the sustainable development goals to be realised or to be as much as possible achieved.

Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Abubakar Bagudu, stressed that with only a few years remaining, a shift from planning to implementation is critical. He highlighted the necessity of mobilizing private capital to supplement public funding, stating that government resources alone cannot meet the ambitious targets. "The macroeconomic reforms have helped release resources that can be used to achieve some of the sustainable development goals but equally more important is the realisation that to achieve the sustainable development goals require more resources than are available to government," Bagudu said.

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The macroeconomic reforms have helped release resources that can be used to achieve some of the sustainable development goals but equally more important is the realisation that to achieve the sustainable development goals require more resources than are available to government.

Bagudu also mentioned Nigeria's ambition for a $1 trillion economy by 2030, which he believes aligns with the SDGs. However, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Nigeria, Mohamed Fall, painted a stark picture of the global progress, or lack thereof. He warned that the world is "not in good shape" with only four years left, noting that many SDG indicators are progressing too slowly, are off track, or have worsened since 2015.

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We believe that our ambition of the $1 trillion economy that lifts everyone out of poverty by the year 2030 is a unified team for everyone here.

Fall urged the committee to focus on practical solutions and "walk the talk," emphasizing that Nigeria, like many nations, is not on track for more than half of the goals. He also pointed out that declining international aid should prompt governments and partners to explore new financing models. "We should not look at t", he stated, indicating a need for self-reliance and novel approaches to development financing.

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What is clear is that we are not in good shape. Only four years remaining.