The United Nations Deputy Secretary General, Mrs. Amina Mohammed, has urged world leaders and captain of industries to channel massive, and targeted investments into youth development, local employment and employability, climate smart solutions, education, health, renewable energy and improved water and sanitation facilities.
She also noted that it would require the private and public sectors working together to scale the necessary financing instruments, guarantees de-risking mechanisms, to strengthen Africa’s development finance network and its institutions.
Mrs. Amina Mohammed, said this, at the second edition of the Africa Social Impact Summit co-convened by the Sterling One Foundation and the United Nations in Lagos, Nigeria.
National Information Officer, UN Information Centre (UNIC), Dr. Oluseyi Soremekun, said the UN Deputy Secretary General, observed that Africa is the best investment propositions of the 21st century, in view of its natural resources, arable land and massive population.
According to her, “The long term structural endowments of our continent are as strong as ever, most of the world’s natural resources are in Africa and 60% of the world’s arable land and a massive population of motivated youth, Africa is the best investment propositions of the 21st century”.
Amina however, cautioned that investment in Africa must go beyond extracting raw material, adding “It must build the roots of a modern economy, hard and soft infrastructure alike, and this must include bold investments into Africa’s strongest asset, its people at the continental, national and local levels”.
Lagos State Governor, Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, stressed the need for all to come together with a renewed spirit of collaboration, innovation, and determination, to build a prosperous and sustainable Africa for all.
Sanwo-Olu, who was represented by his Deputy, Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, said, the various projections suggested that Africa would be home to over half of the world’s poorest people by 2030, and that alone underscored the urgency and importance of the summit and the work all needed to do.
“I call upon the private sector, with its scale, sustainability, and innovation, to take the lead in driving change. We must harness the strength of our multi-stakeholder partnerships and leverage enterprise-driven innovations to create impact ecosystems that foster inclusive growth and recovery.” The Governor said.
The Chief Executive Officer of Sterling One Foundation, Olajeju Ibekwe, disclosed that the second edition of the Africa Social Impact Summit was a marked improvement on the 2022 edition.
“I am also humbled by the intentionality of the private sector to own the sustainable development goals and move the needle. We are grateful to the partnership of the United Nations as our co-convener for this conference,” she said.
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Earlier, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Matthias Schmale, said: “You can’t do business on a dead planet. Africa’s private sector can be a catalyst for change, supercharging our trajectory towards the 2030 Agenda”.
To achieve the pace and scale of transformative change that the world needs, Schmale noted that private sector investments must not just be motivated by profit but by considerations of what would have the greatest social impact.
He urged the CEOs and investors to embed sustainability into their decision making and align their business practices with the SDGs.
The theme of the Summit, is “Global Vision, Local Action: Repositioning the African Development Ecosystem For Sustainable Outcomes”.
