Nigeria requires $300b in eight years to meet 2030 SDGs
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Nigeria has to cobble up $300 billion in the next eight years to bridge gaps in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) also intended to be achieved across Africa in the current phase which rounds up in 2030.
UN Nigeria Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Matthias Schmale disclosed the sum at an SDGs event Sterling One Foundation hosted in Abuja which drew about 4,000 delegates from 55 countries.
He commended Sterling One Foundation for helping to accelerate growth towards the 2030 SDGs across Africa in his key note address.
He said the theme of the event, “Rethink, Rebuild, Recover, Accelerating Growth for the SDGs”, was apt, timely, relevant, and required, given the economic regression across Africa caused by the pandemic, volatilities caused by the war in Ukraine, and the fact there is just eight years to go before 2030.
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Collaborations and partnerships
Schmale stressed the need for intensive collaborations and partnerships among African leaders across the public and private sectors, including civil society groups, to achieve both the 2030 SDG goals and the African Union’s 2063 goals, per Vanguard.
Sterling One Foundation Chief Executive Officer said the summit had in- depth and insightful panel sessions on climate action, education access and funding, primary healthcare, youth and gender empowerment, impact investment and governance all of which dwelled on the 17 interlinked global goals.
A recurring resolution that came through in all the panel sessions, she added, is the need to eliminate silo executions and embrace collaboration by all sector players.
South West ranks first in early childhood development
Consulting firm Statisense has ranked the South West first with 83.1 per cent in Childhood Development Index (CDI) in Nigeria.
CDI is measured through four indicators – literacy-numeracy, physical, socio-emotional and learning – to track the development of children across the globe.
Statisense ranked other zones in CDI as follows:
- South East – 82.7 per cent
- South South – 77.1 per cent
- North Central – 67.3 per cent
- North East – 52.0 per cent
- North West – 51.3 per cent
The report ranked the South East best in literacy-numeracy (69.5 per cent) and in physical (92.9 per cent), per Vanguard.
It ranked the South West best in socio-emotional (90.7 per cent) and in learning (88.5per cent).
Early childhood development became part of SDGs in 2015.
The global goals include a commitment to ensure that by 2030 all children will have equitable access to quality early childhood development and early learning opportunities.
Statisense said the last CDI report was 2016/17 which it published on its Twitter handle on 3 July 2022.