Abuja: The United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Mr Mohamed Fall, has underscored the need for deepening collaboration with the private sector to bolster Nigeria’s impact on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Fall made the remarks at a news conference held on Monday in Abuja to announce the organisation’s readiness to host the fourth edition of the Africa Social Impact Summit (ASIS), which will be co-convened by the United Nations and Nigeria.
The summit, with the theme “Scaling Action, Bold Solution for Climate Resilience and Policy Innovation,” will take place in Lagos from July 10 to 11.
According to Fall, ASIS, a continent-wide platform for deepening collaboration and driving impact on SDGs, has been made possible through continued support and commitment from private sector partnerships.
Fall said, “The summit is happening at a time when the threats humanity is facing for its future are increasing by the day, and we are experiencing the kind of reverse we have experienced in terms of peace and security in the world.
“There is deterioration in the situation in the Middle East, but not only security and peace threaten human beings’ future. We have conflict, and Nigeria is one of those countries facing conflict and insecurity of all sorts.
“Therefore, we focus this time on solutions for climate resilience. This is because environmental degradation is taking a toll on people’s history and future.
“Then, we also know that we are getting into the rainy season. We are also expecting so many more shocks, to which we are working on a kind of anticipatory action as an example of how the climate crisis is impacting people.”
He identified other climate-related issues, including floods, heat waves, and poverty, while emphasising the need for support from both state governments and the private sector to achieve desired goals.
For his part, Mr Abubakar Suleiman, CEO/Managing Director of Sterling Bank, commended the UN in Nigeria for enabling people to tackle difficult situations.
He says this particular summit, more than ever, should be very sobering.
Suleiman said, “The work or the prayer we had when we started supporting this project four years ago was who could build a bridge between the private sector that continues to control a significant amount of this country’s resources.
“Nigeria is a country that does not collect a lot of taxes, and whatever is not collected in taxes is in the pocket of the private sector.
“So as long as the private sector controls more than 80 per cent of the resources of this country, they must bring those resources to bear in solving social problems.
“We need to make it a clear obligation until the government of this country can collect 30 per cent, 35 per cent of the GDP in taxes and have the power to do big stuff. We in the private sector must step up and fill the gaps.”
Meanwhile, Mrs Olapeju Ibekwe, the Managing Director/CEO of Sterling One Foundation, a non-governmental organisation, described the Africa Social Impact Summit as an execution platform and not just an event for private sector investment in nation-building projects.
“We have made a remarkable impact from our partnership base over the past three years; our partnership base has grown by over 500 per cent out of the total number since we started.
“For our delegates, we started with not less than 300 delegates as last year, we welcomed over 2,500 in-person delegates, and it is not just about the numbers: Over 40 per cent of our delegates are C-level executives in the private sector and leaders across the public sector,” she said.
She said the summit aimed to achieve effective partnerships, positively impacting investments into scalable, viable solutions and policy advocacy, urging interested persons to log on to www.theimpactsummit.org for registration.
