Private Sector to scale up investments in the Sustainable Development Goals in Ghana

The SDGs Advisory Unit in the Office of the President and the World Economic Forum has organized a Special Dialogue on Ghana, jointly hosted by H.E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the President of the Republic at Jubilee House, Accra and Borge Brende, President of WEF, from Geneva.

The occasion provided a platform for a strategic engagement between the President of the Republic and some 100 global business leaders, as well as 60 local business leaders and policymakers. The dialogue focused on innovative ways of deepening private sector partnerships for Sustainable Development Goals.

During the event, H.E the President of the Republic formally launched Ghana’s SDGs Country Financing Roadmap (CFR), which has been prepared in collaboration with the Sustainable Development Investment Partnership (SDIP) initiative of the World Economic Forum, the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research at the University of Ghana, the Ministry of Finance, the United Nations Development Programme and KPMG.

The CFR embodies a set of country-led action plans to encourage greater and innovative private sector-led financing to help bridge the SDGs financing gap that the country faces. An estimated US$ 522 billion is required to achieve the SDGs in Ghana by the end of 2030, averaging around US$ 52 billion per year. The current SDG financing gap for the next 10 years stands at US$ 450 billion.

“But far from being a financing gap, I personally see this as a US$450 billion business and investment opportunity for the private sector. And in this regard, I personally extend an invitation to the private sector – both domestic and foreign - to take full advantage of the immense SDGs-related business opportunities that presently exist in the country in infrastructure, agriculture, energy, health, communication, education, water and sanitation,” noted H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo- Addo.

A panel discussion that followed the launch of the Ghana CFR provided in-depth exchanges on how to crowd-in private sector investments for the SDGs. Global and local business leaders at the event expressed keen interest in scaling up private sector investment by taking advantage of the numerous investment opportunities that exist in the country and the prevailing conducive investment environment.

While commending the outstanding partnership between the Government of Ghana and the World Economic Forum, Borge Brende, the President of WEF stated that ‘Ghana has long been committed to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)’, and he expressed the hope that ‘’the CFR would help attract more private capital for sustainable investment opportunities in Ghana and emerging markets more broadly’’

Ghana is the first country in Africa in which the Country Financing Roadmap has been released. It is hoped that this will serve as a blueprint for other countries on the continent.