Remarks at the Launch of the 11th Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD-11) 2025

Salutations:

• The Right Honourable Prime Minister,
• The Deputy Executive Secretary UN Economic Commission for Africa,
• The Honourable Minister for General Duties, 
• The Permanent Secretary, Office of the Prime Minister
• Heads of Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies,
• Colleagues from the UN System,
• Ladies and Gentlemen.

I am delighted to participate in the launch of preparations for the 11th Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD- 11) which is schedule to be held in Kampala from 08 – 10 April 2025 on theme “Advancing sustainable, inclusive, science and evidence-based solutions for the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals for leaving no one behind”.

 The United Nations system in Uganda has over the years been a partner to Government in creating an enabling environment for the domestication and implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the country level. 

Uganda volunteered to host the 11th the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable, which is a manifestation of the Government’s unwavering commitment to facilitating constructive reflection on progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals and identifying ways of accelerating progress. 

 While the Forum will give Uganda a platform to share her experiences in domestication of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the country will also have the opportunity to learn from experiences of other countries in Africa, which will contribute to achieving the country’s development aspirations outlined in the Vision 2040 and the forthcoming fourth National Development Plans (NDP IV), the vehicle for attainment of the SDGs in Uganda.

 The theme of the Forum is highly relevant given the current situation in Africa, including Uganda. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is rewriting the rules of the workforce, with digital skills now essential for 55% of jobs. Yet, without targeted support, many youth especially girls, stand to miss out on this transformation. 

Many of our young people cannot just walk into a job waiting for them.  The reality is most of the youth of today will have to create their own jobs. In many places around the world, young people led by Gen Z, are growing impatient. Their future prospects are dim and they are frustrated. We have to redouble efforts to reignite their hope for the future. Jobs, economic and social progress will do that. In our context we need a radical upgrade in the jobs available. 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to highlight three (3) critical areas of focus for consideration for the 11th the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development:

1. Enhanced ecosystem for innovation and entrepreneurship

While inclusive, science-and-evidence-based solutions, and important innovations are jobs among others, they are not enough – they need to be paired with entrepreneurship. We need the type of innovation that yields many jobs.  Perhaps what we should strengthen urgently is the ecosystem of support required to nurture both innovation and entrepreneurship – thinking through and setting up a deliberate network of institutional actors that support, fund and promote new businesses.  Having the right public policy, regulations, laws and government support in place, having a well trained workforce and scaling up funding – which I recognise are already being thought about, thinking through the infrastructure in place to help entrepreneurs with research and commercialization activities, having  a network of mentors, advisors and business support systems and of course, cultivating access to markets across Africa through making the The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) a reality.

2. An uncertain development financing landscape:

The development financing landscape has become increasingly challenging and will continue to constrain the speed with which we can achieve sustainable development. For example, Uganda has embarked on an ambitious and economically transformative ten-fold economic growth strategy, which will require extra financial resources to implement. Yet, with the multiple geopolitical and climate-related shocks, we are witnessing a shift in the funding priorities of our traditional development partners. This implies that we can no longer count on additional resources from the same sources to the level that we need as a country. 

Already, non-concessional borrowing is becoming gradually more significant and debt servicing is taking a huge chunk of the national budget, leaving limited room for funding the development needs of critical sectors like health and education. At the same time, there is a limit beyond which taxation can become counter-development. We are already starting to experience resentment among the business community over what they term as “excessive taxation”, and indeed some are struggling to survive. Statistics from Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) indicate that between 2019/20 and 2022/23, the number of businesses with an annual turnover of above UGX 50 million reduced by about 90%. Numbers only increased (15%) among smaller businesses with an annual turnover of UGX 50 million and below. In the same year, a business climate assessment[1] by the Economic Policy Research Center (EPRC) indicated that tax policy was the major constraint to doing business in Uganda. These and other pieces of evidence give us signals that we need to reflect more on whether indeed our tax policy is facilitating sustainable growth and development.

At the global level, the UN Secretary-General has championed discussions around the need to reform the global financing architecture to be more favorable to developing countries. He has advocated for debt restructuring and relief for the vulnerable countries. We are glad that IMF has recently announced reforms to ensure a more agile approach to their debt restructuring processes, but there is still more to be done. 

However, at the national level, there are things that we also need to pay attention to. We acknowledge efforts of Government and its partners to strengthen revenue growth through the Domestic Revenue Mobilisation Strategy. We all agree that mobilisation of development financing is very important, but we must equally strengthen efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency in the utilisation of these resources at national and sub-national levels for achievement of our development goals. The unfortunate stories we read in the papers about corruption and mismanagement of public resources do not only impact on the value for money for the taxpayers, but also discourage the potential inflow of other development financing such as grants, foreign direct investment, public-private partnerships, and others.

3. Private sector as critical partner in development:

The Addis Ababa Action Agenda, which prescribes the means of implementation for the SDGs, recognises the unique role of the private sector in driving innovation, sustainable production and productivity, job creation, and economic growth. However, mobilisation of private sector financing for SDGs in low-income countries (LICs) and least developed countries (LDCs) is only about 12% of the potential compared to 48% in upper-middle-income countries.[2] The good news is that business leaders are gradually recognizing the significance and urgency of integrating sustainability into their business practices and strategies. The Uganda Bankers’ Association (UBA) recently launched their Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) framework for the financial sector to boost their sustainability and development impact . It is because they acknowledge that there is no contradiction between business profitability and sustainable practices. 

To achieve the full potential of the private sector as an active partner in sustainable development, it will require Government policies and regulations that provide an environment which motivates and facilitates the private sector to thrive. A more proactive, inclusive and well-structured Government-private sector engagement approach based on jointly defined results and regular dialogue will also be critical. 

The UN System in Uganda is committed to working with the Government within the National Task Team to contribute to successfully organising the 11th Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD- 11) 2025.

Thank you.

[1] https://eprcug.org/publication/lack-of-information-is-affecting-business-operations-under-the-africa-continental-free-trade-area/

[2] https://www.oecd.org/dac/financing-sustainable-development/blended-finance-principles/Making-private-finance-work-for-the-SDGs.pdf