Remarks by UN Resident Coordinator at the12th CEO Forum

Acknowledgements:

The Country Team Leader, CEO Summit Uganda, Dr. Peter Kimbowa

The Founder and CEO Breakthrough Leadership Transformation, Kenya, Dr. Patricia Murugami,

The representative of the Ministry Finance Planning and Economic Development The representative Strathmore Business School Chief Executive Officers of Corporations

My fellow panel members

Ladies and Gentlemen

On behalf of the United Nations system in Uganda, I am delighted to be part of the 12th Edition of the Annual CEO Forum to speak on the topic ‘Reflecting on the ability of the SDGs to collaborate both business and social goals.’ I wish to commend the CEO Summit Uganda partnership with Strathmore Business School and Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development for organising this forum.

The 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were formulated through extensive consultations of a wide range of stakeholders across the world, including Uganda, about the ‘World we want’. These consultations also included views CEOs of corporations and business people. The SDGs are localized for Uganda through its National Development Plan. And businesses actively contribute to the attainment of these Development Goals through the jobs, goods and services they provide.

Corporations and businesses are set up to provide solutions to human needs and wants. When these solutions are guided by the SDGs, they can contribute to transforming our world.

In development settings such as ours, the Private sector provides up to 9/10 jobs available, the contribution of the private sector to the attainment of SDGs cannot be overemphasized.

Reaching the SDGs will require a step-change in both public and private investment. Public sector funding capabilities alone will be insufficient to meet demands across all SDG-related sectors. The ambition of Uganda’s Second National Development Plan to mobilize private sector participation in the achievement of the national development goals fell significantly below the target. I hope this will change with NDPIII. Perhaps the Private sector can better guide how this can happen, how that can be better mobilized to support the attainment of the goals of the national plan.

The current population dynamics also pose some socio-economic challenges, and of course also immense opportunities for economic growth if fully harnessed. According to the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, about 40,000 young people graduate from tertiary institutions in Uganda every year and only 20 percent of these can find decent employment. Without providing gainful employment to these energetic and innovative young people, we lose out on the potential multiplier effects on the rest of the Goals. It is the decent wages paid by corporations and businesses that will increase purchasing power within the economy, widen the market for goods and services and ultimately lead to expansion of business operations to create more jobs and contribute more to Government revenue. And if these jobs are mostly part of a value, which requires the coordination of all actors, the impacts will be even greater. This is partially a coordination issue and an area where the UN system in Uganda is committed to support the private sector.

Good governance within the sector is also important. The Private sector could model practices that minimizing on leakages, demonstrates the transformative effect of efficiencies to further impactful models of sustainable development and designing relevant products. And if there are any ideas the UN could support with, many of my colleagues in the various agencies such as UNDP, UNCDF, ILO etc would be willing to support.

I would like to commend the Private Sector Foundation Uganda, the CEO Summit Uganda, Uganda Bankers Association and the Uganda National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, for their commitment to the Private Sector Platform for SDGs as a national mechanism designed to make businesses more SDG-responsive. Together we can promote responsible business growth and offer a support system to apply end-to-end business solutions, facilities and financial support.

A growing number of businesses have been certified under the Gender Equality Seal for Private Enterprises – which the UN in Uganda, has implemented since 2018 as evidence of what we can achieve together. Promoting the employment of women – young women in particular – benefits Uganda both directly, through their productive contributions to the economy, as well as lowering fertility (contributing to SDG 3), increasing her empowerment and bargaining power at home (contributing to SDG 5 and the elimination of GBV), and increased household spending on health and education (SDGs 3 and 4). According to a World Bank statistic, women account for only 39% of human capital wealth in Uganda, compared to 61% for men. Gender equality would increase per capita wealth by up to US$1,619, an increase of 11.8% versus the base value of the total wealth per capita in the country (as of 2019).

In partnership with domestic financial institutions, such as the Uganda Development Bank, Stanbic Bank and some others we are working to facilitate SME access to patient concessional capital, particularly for commercial agriculture and value addition, making emphasis on enterprises based on collective ownership. Several facilities, such as the Support to Agriculture Revitalization and Transformation (START) are already operational, and new ones are under discussion.

UN agencies support domestic innovation hubs and incubators to identify and nurture promising startups with a potential SDG impact. The Youth4Business Innovation and Entrepreneurship Facility was launched in partnership with Stanbic Bank Uganda, to tackle youth unemployment through impact driven innovation and entrepreneurship in sectors with a high multiplier effect on creation of jobs and livelihood opportunities.

COVID-19 has generated a severe global economic crisis, exposing inequalities and fragilities both within and among countries. The UN socio-economic analysis on

COVID-19 impacts showed that micro, small and medium Enterprises (MSMEs), account for approximately 90 percent of the entire private sector, but have been disproportionately affected by the impacts of the pandemic. Majority of these businesses are owned by women and youth trying to make a living with limited capital and business skills. The Economic Enterprise Restart Fund, a joint initiative between the Stanbic Bank and the UN in Uganda has been set to ensure availability of cheap liquidity to SACCOs, VSLAs and businesses and low-cost financing to help them survive, recover and thrive. It also supports digitization of financial institutions in partnership with fintechs as well as capacity building to improve the sustainability of SACCOs, VSLAs and businesses.

In addition to these economic stimulus efforts, we continue to advocate with all stakeholders that the only sustainable way forward in terms of addressing the economic impacts of COVID-19 is expediting the rollout of vaccination to all people that need and qualify receive the vaccines.

As I conclude, on behalf of the UN in Uganda, I reiterate our commitment to support implementation of the Uganda Vision 2040, the third National Development Plan (NDPIII) and the 2030 Agenda as outlined in the United Nations Sustainable Cooperation Framework for Uganda (2021-2025). We pledge to continue leveraging new partnerships to collaborate with the private sector to apply their creativity and innovation in support of SDG implementation in Uganda. We invite partners to join the Uganda Private Sector Platform for SDGs.

Thank you!