Many African Countries Will Fail to Achieve SDGs by 2030, ECA Director Predicts

Addis Ababa February 24/2021 (ENA) “Current growth trajectories suggest that many countries will fail to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by the 2030 deadline,” UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) Technology, Climate Change and Natural Resource Management Director said.

According to a press release sent to ENA, ECA Technology, Climate Change and Natural Resource Management Director Jean-Paul Adam said most of the African countries impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic will not be able to achieve the SDGs set for 2030.

In addition to lack of commitment for effective implementation of the Agenda by many African countries in an integrated way and in collaboration with concerned stakeholders, the pandemic exacerbated deeply entrenched vulnerabilities, gaps, and inequalities within the countries, the director noted.

Coronavirus has severely tested the social, economic, political, and environmental resilience, exacting a massive toll on the poor and most vulnerable and jeopardizing decades of hard-won development gains especially to the African countries.

“The COVID-19 crisis is playing out against the backdrop of hitherto unseen climate change and biodiversity loss,” Adam said, emphasizing that the climate crisis should not be treated as distinct from the health and economic crises instigated by the pandemic because the three crises and their solutions are interconnected.

To achieve the agenda, Adam stressed the importance of reconstructing socio-economic systems by leveraging opportunities presented by green and low carbon development trajectories with a view to building a resilient, inclusive and sustainable Africa.

The seventh Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development to take place from 1-4 March 2021will explore significance of inclusive green growth as a sustainable path to Africa’s development.

The annual forum is ECA's event to advance integrated implementation of the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063.