Innovative approaches to financing Agenda 2063 and the sustainable development goals in Africa

Abstract

Africa’s growth and development are presently anchored on two mutually inclusive programs namely, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Agenda 2063. The expected result of the implementation of the two agendas is the achievement of inclusive growth based on structural transformation of African economies. In this context finance remains a major constraint to achieving the two agendas and should therefore be addressed throughout their implementation. The main objective of this study is to examine the key challenges that African countries face in innovatively mobilizing domestic and external resources to finance agenda 2063 and the SDGs. Given the role of finance in attaining the structural transformation agenda premised on African owned and African-driven developmental initiatives, the central objective of the study is to investigate innovative mechanisms for the financing of Africa’s structural transformation. The specific objectives of the study are to explore how existing and new mechanisms for innovative development finance can, first, increase the scale of development financing available and, second, provide stable and predictable financing to enhance sustainable development. The report reviews a sample of five African countries namely, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Morocco and South Africa engaged in using emerging innovative sources of finance. The selection of these countries is based on the level of income and the degree of industrialization as captured by manufacturing value added per capita, and the sub regional coverage of Africa.