By Lucy Ogalue
The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) will convene stakeholders to explore innovative finance instruments for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) delivery in Africa.
This is contained in a statement released by the ECA on Friday in Abuja.
It said the session would be organised with Convergence and the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) under the Twelfth Session of the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD 12).
Scheduled for April 27, it said the meeting formed part of the Private Sector Forum themed “Forward Faster: Scaling Private Sector Partnerships to Accelerate the SDGs in Africa.”
“It will bring together governments, development finance institutions, investors and private sector actors to address Africa’s widening SDG financing gap.
“Discussions will focus on transforming fragmented financing systems into scalable and investable platforms capable of attracting private capital.
“Participants will examine blended finance structures, guarantees, and project preparation facilities to unlock bankable investment pipelines,” it said.
The statement said the session would also explore innovative instruments, including debt-for-development and debt-for-climate swaps, to expand fiscal space.
It said stakeholders would assess how limited fiscal space and high borrowing costs continued to constrain project viability across Africa.
The forum aims to identify practical investment models and align public and private actors toward implementation-focused outcomes.
It will also explore ways to strengthen project pipelines, scale de-risking tools and mobilise domestic institutional capital
Outomes are expected to feed into ARFSD follow-up mechanisms, including SDG Impact Labs, to support implementation.
The session will underscore the need for coordinated action to build integrated financing systems for accelerated SDG delivery.
NAN