Ghana recently joined the World Economic Forum to work together on the first-ever Country Financing Roadmap (CFR) for SDGs. The CFRs is an initiative designed by the Sustainable Development Investment Partnership, which is in itself a partnership between the World Economic Forum and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Although it is a country-led project, the goal is to generate more participation from the private sector in order to finance projects to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
This initiative is part of the African country’s most recent efforts to identify, quantify and develop strategies to bridge the gap between SDG financing and longer-term national development priorities. The World Economic Forum estimates that Ghana requires around USD $522 billion by 2030 in order to achieve SDGs, a very high number for a country that has an economy which is above average in the region, but below average in a global perspective.
The CFR focuses on bringing the private sector to finance the SDGs budget by focusing on sustainable infrastructure. A study made by the World Bank in 2018 concluded that improvements in infrastructure could be one of the strongest drivers and concurs with private sector surveys, as it eases access to finance, access to land, and access to electricity.
The initiative also focuses on the micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector, which accounts for around 85% of business within the private sector and contributes to 70% of GDP, according to the World Economic Forum. The actions and strategies highlighted in Ghana’s CFR were crafted carefully by many stakeholders and consulting groups around the world: around 50 institutions. This gives the pilot more safety and provides the government and the private sector with more security.
Børge Brende, President of the World Economic Forum stated that “Ghana has long been committed to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We hope this report will help attract more private capital for sustainable investment opportunities in emerging markets and look forward to continuing to work together.”
Ghana is the first country in which the CFR was released. This pilot will hopefully serve as a blueprint for other countries and incentivize the private sector to the extent of Ghana being independent of aid by 2028.
