Ehingbeti: Public-private alliance key to achieving SDGs –Experts

Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial hub, has done much better compared to other states but remains far from achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, Mohamed Yahya, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) resident representative in Nigeria, said at the Lagos Economic Summit on Thursday.

Some of the challenges inhibiting the achievement of the goals include financing, which Yahya said was critical, climate change, growing demographics, among others.

“The agenda 2030 is central to any of the discussions and for Lagos specifically. When we look at the progress of the SDG, it’s critical to assess how well Lagos has performed in terms of obtaining the SDGs. Essentially when we talk about SDGs for Lagos, what we are saying is we don’t want anybody in Lagos to be left behind,” Yahya said during a breakout session on ‘Sustainability, resilience and impact’.

Other panelists at the session were of the view that the challenges could be tackled through collaboration with the public and private sectors of the economy.

Speaking further, Yahya said Lagos has the lowest poverty rate and highest access to sanitation in the country. However, urban poverty remains a big issue with 65 percent of Lagosians classified as urban poor and many of them live in slums and settlements, with men and women facing greater risk of falling behind.

“Specifically, if you look at the impact of Covid-19, we expect even more people to be pushed into poverty side. If you look at the issues of urban rising migration, which keeps the population growth well ahead of the state infrastructure, any progress made, the rural urban migration reduces the progress. That means the progress must be quicker than rural-urban migration,” he said.

He noted that Lagos has made significant investment to address the challenge of inadequate infrastructure. However, he said the quality and quantity of such infrastructure, power, road networks, and housing is insufficient when compared with the needs of the city.

To achieve the SDGs in Nigeria and Lagos, the private sector has to be essentially at the forefront as international and domestic resources have fallen because of the Covid-19.

“So the challenge of financing will remain critical for Lagos and essentially will determine whether the state achieves the SDG goal or not, where those resources come from, what conducive environment the private sector has, and what kind of bureaucratic hurdles the private sector faces. These will determine how attractive Lagos remains globally, not only regionally and continentally,” Yahya said.

“Smart city sounds like jargon but it’s really the future of Lagos State, how it manages its resources, the need to supply huge mega cities. So this issue of smart city and climate resilience is a critical aspect,” he said.

Sustainability experts at Ehingbeti harped on the need for an improved and more interactive relationship between the public and private sector in order to effectively promote Lagos economic development goals while building a resilient and sustainable economy.

Omobolanle Victor-Laniyan, head of sustainability at Access Bank, during a breakout session on achieving resilience through partnerships and collaborations said in order for Lagos to achieve its projected growth and drive resilience, the adoption of a public-private participation in the state would offer opportunities beneficial to both parties in the long run and would be instrumental in building a resilient economy.

“A public-private partnership will cut across a wide range of sectors that address the challenges of the state and the country in general. However, proper accountability and transparency mechanisms should be put in place,” she said.

She further said that in utilising the resources of the private sector under the partnership, the government also needs to provide basic enabling conditions for businesses to thrive like improved public safety, targeting interventions in a precise manner and addressing basic environmental issues.

Nonny Ugboma, executive secretary, MTN Foundation Nigeria, advised that in building a resilient and technology-inclined city, it was necessary for the state government to adequately manage possible disasters to avoid economic breakdowns that will hinder expected growth and development.

“In implementing sustainable collaboration model, the state should follow a human sense of design approach and when designing public services and polices and approach, it is necessary to create social and environmental value and not just an economic value that everyone focuses on,” Ugboma said.

“This approach will not just bring public and private sectors together but it would involve citizens and recipients of the solutions designed, especially the young people, to ensure that we have a more inclusive society to reduce the gap between the haves and the have-nots,” she said.

Amaka Onyemelukwe, ‎head of public affairs, communications & sustainability at Coca-Cola Company, said the private sector can help the state achieve its resilient economic growth by embarking on community building activities through joining resources and expertise to upskill the youths of its host communities, achieving a habitable and clean environment and also converting challenges into opportunities.