Ninth session of the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development
Statement
By
Mr. Antonio Pedro
Acting Executive Secretary
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)
Niamey, Niger, 28 February 2023
Your Excellency, Mohamed Bazoum, President of the Republic of Niger,
Ms Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations,
Your Excellency, Uzziel Ndagijimana, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning of Rwanda, Chair of the eighth session of the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development,
Your Excellency, Garama Saratou Rabiou, Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development of the Republic of Niger,
Your Excellency, Lachezara Stoeva, President, Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, and Permanent Representative of Bulgaria to the United Nations,
Your Excellency, Dr. Monique Nsanzabaganwa, Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission,
Excellencies,
Fellow Colleagues of the United Nations family, Development Partners and Regional Organizations,
Distinguished Delegates
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Nous sommes encore une fois à Niamey, après le Sommet sur l’industrialisation de l’Union Africaine en novembre dernier, pour lancer une accélération dans la mise en œuvre des Objectifs du développement durable et de l’agenda 2030. Nous nous engageons a une relance verte et inclusive, fondée sur des chaines de valeurs durables.
J’exprime notre appréciation profonde a SE le President Mohamed Bazoum, au Gouvernement et le peuple du Niger de nous avoir convoqué encore une fois a Niamey pour que l’Afrique puisse aller au-delà du statut quo et trouve un nouveau souffle dans cette ère de crises multiples.
Merci pour votre leadership constant. Notre gratitude aussi a SE madame la Ministre Garama Saratou Rabiou, Ministre de l'Environnement et de la Lutte contre la Désertification, pour sa coordination exemplaire dans la préparation de ce forum et dans l’élaboration des thématiques si important pour la réussite d’une relance verte pour le Sahel et pour tout le continent.
Et nous reconnaissons également tous les efforts de l’équipe de l’ANEC et de tout le gouvernement qui ont démontré la capacité du Niger pour héberger les conférences de haut niveau et de traiter les sujets de plus grande importance pour notre continent et pour la planète.
Ce forum est possible grâce aux partenariats entre les institutions de développement africain et je salue également les contributions la Commission de l’Union Africaine, de la Banque Africaine pour le Développement et de tous les agences des Nations Unies.
I would also like to use this opportunity to thank our Deputy Secretary-General for her continued commitment to ensuring coherence and impactful actions across the United Nations’ entities to deliver the SDGs agenda and elevate the UN leadership in sustainable developments spheres.
Excellencies,
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,
During the pandemic, 62 million people were pushed into poverty in just one year between 2019 and 2020.
Africa’s GDP is expected to decelerate in 2023 in a volatile global environment.
Business as usual will not work for Africa.
This ninth regional forum seeks to build on this vision to accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2063.
We have renewed momentum to deliver on these critical goals.
Excellencies,
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,
This year we are revisiting the Sustainable Development Goals 6, 7, 9, 11 and 17.
Please allow me to focus particularly on SDG 7, “Ensuring access to clean and affordable energy”, and SDG 9, “Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation”.
The outcome of the AU Summit on Industrialization and Economic Diversification provides us with a roadmap to realize SDG 9 in Africa.
One ask was for ECA to work with various partners to scale up energy investments as a fundamental priority for industrial development.
In the last 2 decades, less than 2% of global renewable energy investment has been made in Africa (IRENA).
Yet, for example, Africa possesses 60 per cent of the world’s solar irradiation potential.
We must change this paradox.
An ECA study has shown that 250% more jobs can be created through green value chains when compared to traditional fossil fuel dependent sectors.
As a matter of fact, we can deliver on the potential of getting more from our critical minerals, for example, by investing in a battery value chain in countries such as the DRC and Zambia, where recent studies showed that battery component fabrication would be ‘greener’ and less costly as compared with production in the United States, China and Europe.
Excellencies,
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,
The African Continental Free Trade Area agreement (AfCFTA) is the framework under which we can ensure an African owned transformation.
On 1 March, here in Niamey, we will have a deeper reflection on how the Africa Regional Collaborative Platform can help accelerate implementation of the SDGs on the continent.
It will be an opportune moment to discuss how the 28 national AfCFTA strategies that have been completed so far with our support, and under the leadership of the African Union Commission, can be mainstreamed in the work of the UN Country Teams.
Africa’s accelerated transformation will also be fueled by digital technologies. For example, E-Commerce is set to grow by 50% in Africa by 2025. To this end, we must end the digital divide, particularly along gender lines, to ensure true inclusion, and to truly unleash the potential of the 4th industrial revolution.
Hence, investing in capacity building will be critical to deliver on this promise.
Finally, we need financing to deliver on the SDGs. However, the cost of capital on commercial terms is unacceptably high for African countries, while affordable resources through development institutions are insufficient to meet our ambition.
The UN Secretary General has outlined an ambitious plan for SDG stimulus, aiming to dramatically increase the resources available for investing in the SDGs.
This will require a fit-for-purpose international development architecture.
We are also focused on delivering means for African countries to be able to raise more of their own resources with less donor dependency.
At the last Regional Forum on Sustainable Development, we signed a memorandum with the Congo Basin Climate Commission to establish a regional registry for the issuance of carbon credits in the 15 member countries. We were pleased to launch this registry at COP27.
Further, we also organized the Africa Business Forum on “Making Carbon Credits work for Africa”, last week in Addis Ababa, to connect project proposals on the continent with potential investors, building on the African Carbon Markets Initiative also launched at COP27.
In addition, ECA is supporting the goals of the sustainable debt coalition launched by Egypt at Sharm el Sheikh - to reduce the cost of green borrowing, to facilitate debt for climate adaptation investment and to promote the use of debtor defined key performance indicators to improve sustainable development linked outcomes.
Excellencies,
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,
We are all aware of the challenges ahead of us.
But we are also encouraged by the will and determination to succeed.
This is indeed the real driving force behind the acceleration of our action on sustainable development.
I thank you for your attention.