Special Dialogue on Ghana and Launch of the Ghana SDGs Country Financing Roadmap (CFR) Report
The CFR report was prepared by the SDGs Advisory Unit – Office of the President, in partnership with the Sustainable Development Investment Partnership (SDIP), an initiative of the World Economic Forum, ISSER (University of Ghana), UNDP, KPMG, Ministry of Finance and the former Ministry of Planning. The CFR embodies a set of country-led action plans to encourage innovative private sector-led financing to help bridge the SDGs financing gap. Ghana’s SDG financing gap is over the next 10 years stands at US$ 431.6 billion, with US$43 billion just for 2021.
Far from being a financing gap, the US$450 billion needed to finance the SDGs presents commercially viable business and investment opportunities for the private sector, remarked H.E. Nana Akufo-Addo at the launch of the report .
The Unit was supported by Societe Generale and Standard Chartered to launch the report at Jubilee House to 60 Local CEOs and 100+ Global CEOs.
Ocean Governance Study
The Division for Ocean Affairs and Law of the Sea of the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs (DOALOS) and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) have launched a four-year capacity building project for developing countries to reinforce their capacity to implement the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and related Agreements. The project is also designed to enable developing countries better harness the benefits of a sustainable ocean economy and supporting the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). One component of the project is the conduct of analyses of national frameworks for ocean governance (Ocean Governance Study) in selected beneficiary States including Ghana.
The OGS is being undertaken under the technical leadership of Prof. Appeaning Addo, the Director of the Institute of Environment and Sanitation Studies at the University of Ghana. Prof. Appeaning Addo a distinguished Professor in Coastal Processes and Delta Studies, and a globally acclaimed authority on the ocean.
Champions of Trade
Launched on March 15th 2021, the Champions of Trade competition for the SDGs was designed to nurture innovative ideas through which the Africa Free Continental Trade Area (AfCFTA) can support the attainment of the SDGs. The core objectives of the initiative were to promote continental trade among young African Innovators, Entrepreneurs and Startups, and help the youth and especially women to be actively involved in achieving the broader objectives of AfCFTA while contributing to the SDGs. Three innovators and entrepreneurs – Africa Chamber of Trade and Investment, Nedie Tech & Media Network, and Black Bridge Consulting Group Limited – were each awarded a cash prize of GHC10,000.00 for excelling in the competition.
SDGs Day Out
The SDGs Community Day Out initiative was out-doored by the Unit in August 2019, to take education and sensitization on the SDGs to the doorsteps of communities. Importantly, this grassroots initiative was instituted to help demystify the SDGs, break them down to the understanding of the ordinary Ghanaian, and particularly taking it from the academic and policy space to local engagement with communities.
The SDGs Community Day Out had also been designed with the objective to help strengthen ownership of the Goals at the sub-national and community levels, so key for the sustainability of SDGs action. It is also meant to leave tangible SDGs legacies like tree planting projects within localized communities.
SDGs Car Raffle
As part of efforts to mass educate the general public on the subject of the SDGs, the SDGs Advisory Unit organized a nationwide raffle on the Goals, dubbed “Yes to the SDGs” from May to July 2019. Leveraging technology, the raffle involved the general public answering questions on the SDGs via text messages on both SMS and USSD platforms. The raffle was complemented by a major campaign on the SDGs that occurred at the country’s public universities, market places, shopping malls, supermarkets, bus terminals, amongst others places. Central to the campaign was a ten minute SDGs Moment that was aired on 3FM radio on weekdays which focused solely on the SDGs.
The ultimate prize of the Raffle was a brand new Mahindra KUV Car donated by Svani Group Limited, which was awarded on the side-lines of the Global SDGs Youth Summit, held in November 2019 at the University of Ghana.
Newsletter
The production of the weekly SDGs Advisory Unit Newsletter, which is circulated widely within the SDGs space, continued unabated during the review period. The newsletter continued to keep our partners abreast with global news and developments on the SDGs. Anecdotal evidence seem to suggest that for many of our partners, the newsletter remained an important source of information for them, bringing them up to date on the Global Agenda and assisting them in making decisions that impact on the SDGs.
High-Level Ministerial Committee on the SDGs
With the appointment of the President as the co-Chair of the UN Secretary-General’s Eminent Group of Advocates, it became compelling for Ghana to demonstrate unparalleled leadership in the implementation of the SDGs. Towards this end, there was the need to garner political support at the highest level in the country to drive then campaign and the implementation of the Goals. The High-Level Ministerial Committee (HLMC) on the SDGs, consisting of fifteen sector Ministers, and chaired by the Minister for Planning, provides leadership and strategic oversight to the implementation of the Goals. The SDGs Advisory Unit serves as the secretariat of the HLMC with the President’s Sherpa and Special Advisor on the SDGs as the Secretary to the Committee.
SDGs Investment Fair
To augment government’s efforts in achieving the SDGs by leveraging private sector capital and innovative financing opportunities, the Unit partnered with the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Planning and the Ghana Investment Promotions Centre (GIPC) to organize the second edition of the Accra SDGs Investment Fair. The Accra SDGs Investment Fair series aim to help bridge the SDGs financing gap by creating a platform that facilitates financing for bankable SDGs initiatives. Essentially the Fair creates a marketplace for impact investment, by matching potential investors with sustainable business opportunities. The 2019 edition of the Fair was held under the theme “Sustainable Development Financing: Building Mutually Beneficial Partnerships”.
SDGs Moment at the AU Summit
On the side-lines of the 32nd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union (AU Summit) held in Addis Ababa in February 2019, the SDGs Advisory Unit hosted an SDGs Moment under the auspices of the co-Chairs of the UN Secretary General’s Eminent Group of Advocates for the SDGs. The event was attended by all the fifty-five (55) Heads of State and Government of the African Union, their Foreign Ministers and Permanent Representatives to the AU, the leadership of the AU Commission, the UN and other pan-African institutions. The objective of this historic SDGs Moment was to rally the support of the African constituency, and strengthen their commitment to scaling up implementation of the Goals.
Africa Netpreneur Summit and Heroes Show
The Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative (ANPI) is a 10-year philanthropic enterprise by SDGs Advocate Jack Ma, to identify and put a spotlight on young African entrepreneurs who are changing communities and positively impacting lives. The primary goal of ANPI is to identify and support 100 African “business heroes” who are building a more sustainable and inclusive future to help lead development in Africa. A cardinal goal is to use the stories of these ‘heroes’ to inspire the continent and beyond. The Jack Ma Foundation is supporting the ANPI with a US$10 million fund over the next ten years.
The SDGs Advisory Unit supported the Jack Ma Foundation in organising the Grand Fi- nale of the maiden edition of ANPI in Accra in November 2019. The one-day programme consisted of an Africa Netpreneur Confer- ence and the Africa Business Heroes Show.
CEOs Breakfast Meetings
The CEOs Breakfast Meeting initiated in 2018 has proven to be powerful in fostering a strong partnership between the government and the private sector in support of implementation of the SDGs in the country. The series of Breakfast meetings continued to bring select Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) from the private sector and the senior political leadership of the country, under the auspices of the President, to dialogue on scaling up the private sector’s role and support in implementation of the national SDGs action and programmes.
Establishment of the SDGs Delivery Fund and Green Fund
To give effect to their commitment to support government’s efforts in implementing the SDGs, the CEOs Advisory Group launched two key initiatives in 2019 with the support of the Unit. These are the SDGs Delivery Fund and the Green Fund. The two Funds seek to mobilise domestic private resources to support bankable projects and initiatives in the aforementioned six SDGs areas.
The SDGs Delivery Fund will be resourced from a proportion of the corporate social responsibility resources within corporate Ghana, and will be augmented by resources mobilised from philanthropists, the development finance institutions, multilateral institutions and bilateral partners. This Fund will be used to finance impact projects in the six domains identified by the Advisory Group.
Visit of Otumfuo to the United Nations
As part of activities to mark the 20th anniversary of the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace by the United Nations, the President of the UN General Assembly convened a high level forum in September 2019 under the theme “The Culture of Peace: Empowering and Transforming Humanity.” His Majesty, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Asantehene was the Keynote Speaker at this historic event. The Unit partnered with the Manhyia Palace, the Office of the Asantehene, in facilitating and in substantively supporting the mission to the Otumfuo’s visit to the UN. The choice of Otumfuo as the Special Guest and Keynote Speaker was inspired by the Royal Dialogue on the SDGs which the Unit organised in 2018 at Manhyia Palace under the patronage of the His Majesty the King, and which adopted the Kumasi Declaration on the SDGs, acknowledging the interlinkages between the Culture of Peace and the 2030 Agenda.
Africa Innovates for the SDGs
In a bid to bring greater visibility to the nexus between innovation and the SDGs, the Unit has supported the President to launch the ‘Africa Innovates for the SDGs‘ competition in August 2018. Largely targeting the youth of Africa, the competition seeks to identify and reward innovation and innovative actions that are providing solutions to SDGs challenges across the continent. Specifically, the goal is to support exceptional early-stage innovations that are solving key challenges linked to the SDGs and which have potential for scalability. The competition has drawn over 1,300 applications from all over Africa, showcasing tremendous innovations in diverse areas. Final winners will be announced in the second quarter of 2019, and together with all shortlisted finalists, they will be put through incubation hubs to help further develop the innovations for scalability.
For more information about the initiative, please visit www.africainnovates4sdgs.org