United Nations affirms Africa as best investment proposition of the 21st century

The United Nations (UN) has affirmed that Africa is the best investment proposition of the 21st century, in view of its natural resources, arable land and massive population, but with a caution that investment in Africa must go beyond extracting raw material.

Penpushing reports that a statement by the National Information Officer of United Nations Information Centre (UNIC), Dr Seyi Soremekun said Deputy Secretary-General of the world body, Amina J. Mohammed, made the observation at the second edition of the Africa Social Impact Summit held in Lagos.

‘The long-term structural endowments of our continent are as strong as ever, most of the world’s natural resources are in Africa and 60% of the world’s arable land and a massive population of motivated youth, Africa is the best investment propositions of the 21st century’, she said

Penpushing further reports that the statement added that Mohammed at the summit co-convened by the Sterling One Foundation and the United Nations in Nigeria, however, cautioned that investment in Africa must go beyond extracting raw material.

‘It must build the roots of a modern economy, hard and soft infrastructure alike, and this must include bold investments into Africa’s strongest asset, its people at the continental, national and local levels”, she emphasised

Penpushing also reports that Mohammed advocated for channeling massive, targeted investments into youth development, local employment and employability, climate smart solutions, education, health, renewable energy and improved water and sanitation facilities.

The Deputy Secretary-General cautioned that it would require the private and public sectors working together to scale the necessary financing instruments, guarantees de-risking mechanisms, to strengthen Africa’s development finance network and its institutions.

Penpushing reports that the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, in his remarks stressed the need for all to come together with a renewed spirit of collaboration, innovation, and determination, to build a prosperous and sustainable Africa for all.

The Governor represented by his Deputy, Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, said that the various projections suggested that Africa would be home to over half of the world’s poorest people by 2030, and that alone underscored the urgency and importance of the summit and the work all needed to do.

“I call upon the private sector, with its scale, sustainability, and innovation, to take the lead in driving change. We must harness the strength of our multi-stakeholder partnerships and leverage enterprise-driven innovations to create impact ecosystems that foster inclusive growth and recovery’, he stated.

Penpushing further reports that in her own contributions the  Chief Executive Officer of Sterling One Foundation, Olajeju Ibekwe, disclosed that the second edition of the Africa Social Impact Summit was a marked improvement on the 2022 edition.

“I am also humbled by the intentionality of the private sector to own the sustainable development goals and move the needle. We are grateful to the partnership of the United Nations as our co-convenor for this conference’, she said.

The Foundation boss expressed hope for several partnerships and innovations to emerge from the summit, adding that the organization was looking forward to existing social impact initiatives in different rural communities.

“And we are also looking forward to existing social impact initiatives in different rural communities, accessing more resources, multilevel resources to be able to do more and spread their impact from communities to communities across the Africa’, she added.

Penpushing also reports that the United Nations (UN) Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Matthias Schmale, earlier, emphasized that business cannot be carry out on a dead planet, stressing that Africa can be a catalyst for change

“You can’t do business on a dead planet. Africa’s private sector can be a catalyst for change, supercharging our trajectory towards the 2030 Agenda. To achieve the pace and scale of transformative change that the world needs, private sector investments must not just be motivated by profit but by considerations of what would have the greatest social impact’, she added.

Penpushing reports that Schmale urged the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and investors to embed sustainability into their decision making and align their business practices with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Meanwhile, Soremekun in the statement disclosed that the theme of the Summit held on 10 – 11 August 2023, was ‘Global Vision, Local Action: Repositioning the African Development Ecosystem For Sustainable Outcomes.’

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