Africa Urged to Abandon Aid Dependence as SDG Financing Gap Hits $1.3 Trillion

Africa’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) financing gap has soared to $1.3 trillion annually, an alarming shortfall that leaders say can no longer be bridged by foreign aid alone. At a high-level session held on the sidelines of the 2025 UN High Level Political Forum, African leaders called for sweeping structural reforms to mobilize domestic resources and reduce reliance on donor-driven development.

“Aid won’t close the gap. We must stop exporting raw materials and importing poverty,” declared Claver Gatete, UN Under Secretary General and Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).

Gatete emphasized that over 80 percent of Africa’s exports remain unprocessed, an unsustainable model that continues to deprive the continent of added value and jobs. He advocated for stronger investment in manufacturing, green industries, and youth-led enterprises, noting that long-term growth depends on building resilient value chains across the continent.

The session, co-hosted by the Government of Uganda and the ECA, focused on translating the Kampala Declaration, adopted at this year’s Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD), into actionable commitments. Uganda, which chaired the ARFSD Bureau in 2025, has taken steps to align national policies with regional and global frameworks.

“We are dangerously off track,” said Uganda’s Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja. “But we’ve also made progress, reducing maternal mortality, promoting gender equality, and increasing budget allocations for SDG-related sectors.”

Nabbanja described the Kampala Declaration as a practical tool and reaffirmed Uganda’s commitment to advancing its implementation. Her remarks reflected a growing continental push for self-determined development grounded in local ownership and accountability.

Still, the road ahead is steep. Many African nations face mounting debt, limited access to concessional financing, and prohibitively high capital costs. Gatete renewed calls for an African Credit Rating Agency, arguing that current global rating systems exaggerate risk and stifle investment.

He also urged governments to scale up blended finance models, issue local currency bonds, and digitize tax systems to improve efficiency and revenue collection. “We must stop viewing youth as recipients of development and start recognizing them as drivers of it,” Gatete said, highlighting the importance of vocational training, digital skills, and youth entrepreneurship.

Selma Malika Haddadi, Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission, reinforced the shift in narrative. “The Kampala Declaration is not just about potential. It is about will,” she said. “Partnership is not patronage. It must be grounded in mutual recognition and institutional respect.”

Haddadi warned against performative partnerships and called for better alignment between global financing frameworks and Africa’s development priorities. She also pointed to encouraging signs of progress, including the rollout of the Pan African Payment and Settlement System and the implementation of the AU’s climate finance strategy.

With less than five years remaining to meet the 2030 Agenda targets and as the second ten-year phase of the African Union’s Agenda 2063 begins, speakers stressed that political declarations alone are insufficient.

“The future we want will not be given to us,” said Gatete. “It must be built. And we must build it now.”

The session drew senior-level participation from across the continent and the UN system, including Uganda’s Minister for General Duties Justine Kasule Lumumba, UN Special Adviser on Africa Cristina Duarte, and other policymakers focused on development financing, innovation, and regional integration.