Navigating post-2015 development agenda

By Tony elumelu

Kenya: As an entrepreneur, one born, raised, educated, and worked all his life in Africa and now engaged substantially in nurturing more entrepreneurs, I would like to make a case for the prioritisation of three important issues that affect our continent in the implementation of the post-2015 development agenda.

They are: tackling unemployment and stimulating job creation; increasing access to electricity; and engaging the private sector as key stakeholders in achieving the 2030 development goals. 

In 2000, the United Nations made the historic announcement of eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). They were very specific, and had a timeline of 15 years for delivery.

Most importantly, they were universal goals, even if the issues they sought to address were unique to certain regions of the world.

GLOBAL RESPONSE

The ultimate value of the MDGs was that they mandated a global response to the most pressing humanitarian issues affecting a significant number of the world’s population. 

Since then, we’ve made significant progress on these issues. But there are still important lessons to learn from the formulation and implementation of the MDGs. 

First, the formulation process was not very inclusive.

Second, the goals were mainly focused on the most basic needs of the individual, and less on macroeconomic development.

Third, they were implicitly designed to be government-and donor-driven, and lacked an explicit commitment to engage private-sector actors as financiers, stakeholders and implementers to drive sustainability.

This is not to say that the private sector was totally absent in MDG implementation. There are several examples of immensely successful public-private sector collaboration relating to the MDGs.

But where these partnerships were the most effective was when they involved businesses contributing through their own operations, rather than afterwards through CSR programmes funded by profits already earned. 

For instance, the Global Fund has leveraged on Coca-Cola’s expansive global beverage distribution system and its core business expertise to build a more efficient medicines supply chain to take drugs to the “last mile”, thereby increasing the availability of critical medicines.

Fortunately, when it comes to the post-2015 development agenda, the process has been much more inclusive.

A high-level panel on the post-2015 development agenda was appointed from both donor and recipient countries. Transparent and wide-ranging consultations have been held across the globe at the government, civil society, private sector and grassroots levels. 

The panel’s report emphasises the importance of transforming economies, and an agenda for jobs and inclusive growth, which demonstrates an understanding that both life and livelihoods should be addressed as we set sail for 2030.

And it is this reprioritisation  that is most exciting.

Inclusive growth

The issue of jobs and inclusive growth as priorities for the next MDGs is critical because the countries with the largest percentage of poor, sick and oppressed are also the countries with the smallest economies and smallest percentage of formally employed people.   

We cannot continue to close our eyes to the looming crisis of unemployment on the African continent. With nearly 200 million people aged 15 to 24, Africa has the youngest and most rapidly growing population in the world.

By 2045, our youth population will double, and exceed that of China and India. We must create 13 million jobs each year in sub-Saharan Africa just to keep pace with population growth.

By 2020, Africa will need 122 million jobs if we are to succeed in the fight against poverty and maintain political stability and global security.

The current development practice is to invest in the basic health and education of people in the hopes that they will eventually make something of themselves.

However, I also think that if we help people make something of themselves by investing in jobs and economic opportunities — and add the multiplier effect of access to energy — the beneficiaries will purchase healthcare, purchase education for their children and look after their families.

They will live longer, live healthier and they will live in dignity. 

Citizens with the opportunity to be productive wage earners for their societies also become taxpayers for their governments.

Lack of access to energy or electricity is another challenge that will prevent us from eradicating poverty. Seven out of 10 Africans have no access to electricity;

Education is another catalytic sector in achieving development gains, yet 90 million children go to school without electricity.  This translates to at least 90 million lost hours of study and homework every day;

Cumulatively devastating

Over time, this lack of electricity and education will create a cumulatively devastating problem for a continent with a large young population without the necessary skills to power the continent’s industries.  

If we agree that access to electricity and improved livelihoods are vital components for the success of the post-2015 development agenda, then the private sector will have a key role to play in its implementation.

A global agenda that intends to address the livelihood of people and attack extreme poverty is not set up for success if it does not fully engage the sector of society that controls the most capital, employs the most people, and fosters the most innovation.

Understandably, there are concerns about the involvement of the private sector in the post-2015 agenda. Indeed, some appear legitimate.

The first concern is that private sector financing will displace government Overseas Development Assistance (ODA). 

But private sector financing is not intended and cannot displace ODA.  Government investment in development helps to stimulate and incentivise private sector financing. 

We’ve seen this work successfully in multilateral investments in the fights against HIV and the Power Africa Initiative that have attracted the private sector to invest billions.

But we must recognise that both donor and recipient governments have limited capacity to invest further, and in the current global economic climate, many are making cuts to their aid and public spending. 

Thus, in our public capital constrained environment, serious consideration must be given to leveraging private capital to meet development needs outside of the most urgent humanitarian situations.

Economic meltdownS

Another concern is that private sector values and interests are different and cannot be aligned with values that drive the development imperative.  

Sadly, not all private sector actors have operated ethically, and it is unreasonable to assume that the market can solve all problems. 

The world witnessed with bitterness the bursting of the US housing and banking bubbles, which set off a devastating seismic chain of national economic meltdowns in multiple countries.

And that is why the creation of the UN Global Compact to elevate human and labour rights, and establish anti-corruption and environmental sustainability in corporate practices, is an important milestone in the area of corporate accountability.

However, it would also be wrong to assume that all businesses are driven by the principle of pure profit, devoid of values.

I am the chairman of Heirs Holdings, a values-driven African investment company which operates in strategic sectors of industry all over Africa, including banking, power, oil and gas, agribusiness, real estate, hospitality and healthcare.

We are driven entirely by the values and philosophy of Africapitalism, a term I coined to define the new role of the private sector in the development of Africa through long-term investments that create economic prosperity and social wealth.

Ours is one of many examples of companies around the world seeking a more inclusive approach to growth.

A successful UN post-2015 commitment to create jobs and increase access to electricity will require governments, donors and multinationals to invest in human capital, and enact reforms and new policies to create more competitive business environments.

But we in the private sector have important reforms to make as well. We must evolve our business theories of success and corporate social responsibility (CSR). No longer can CSR be small corporate donations to good causes

CSR should “create and multiply value” in the societies in which we source, supply and operate.

The writer is chairman of Heirs Holdings.

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