SDG Center for Africa

Kigali, 12.06.2019 – The 3 days conference on “SDGs Implementation in Africa - Reflections on a Three-Year Journey” kicked off on Wednesday 12th June 2019. The conference, spanning over three days, brings together African Leaders, policy makers, representatives of the UN system, civil society, the private sector, bilateral institutions, researchers and academics, innovators and experts to debate the progress made towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), challenges encountered in this journey as well as share experiences.

The conference started with Pre-conference sessions on enhancing national Monitoring and Review systems and capacities for SDG Reporting, and Revitalization of National Development Banks for Sustainable Development. In his opening remarks Dr Belay E. Begashaw, Director General of The Sustainable Development Goals Center for Africa, noted the important of evaluating the progress made and addressing the weaknesses identified during these first 3 years of the SDG Journey. He noted: “it’s not about statistics, or numbers it’s about the lives of our people. We should therefore ensure the implementation of the SDGs and improve the lives of our people”

The session on Enhancing National M&R Systems and Capacities for SDG Monitoring & Reporting engaged a conversation on understanding the data gaps, possible ways to resolve them and their significance for strengthening M&R systems. In his keynote address Hon. Dr. Nabil Mohammed, Minister of Higher Education and Research in Republic of Djibouti noted the importance of strengthening Pan-African M&R systems for harmonized data: “we have now more than before, the opportunity to produce the right data at the right time and in an accessible way. We need to take advantage of the digital revolution.”

The pre-conference also hosted a parallel session on Revitalization of National Development Banks for Sustainable Development. Delegates of National Development Banks, Central Banks, Ministries of Finance, Financial Institutions and related stakeholders, shared expert views, common practices and standards for NDBs. The session identified potential impediments in bringing effectiveness to NDBs and fostered awareness and dialogue on the current situation of NDBs in Africa. In different formats, experts and participants discussed different issues surrounding structure, funding, regulatory environment and role of NDBs. Some innovative ideas on how to reinvent and restructure NDBs were proposed and discussed. The session further looked at how NDBs could access innovative sources of finance and the role of NDBs in Implementation and progress of the SDGs.

The respective sessions were concluded with a summary of the day and an outlook to the way forward. Closing Remarks in the M&R session were held by Mr. Ivan Murenzi, Deputy Director General, National Institute of Statistics, Rwanda and by Mr. Kofi Adomakoh, Director, Project & Export Development Finance, African Export-Import Bank for the NDBs session.