Jobless economic growth and high youth unemployment are common features affecting the Ugandan economy. The capital Kampala is no exception. Most of the graduates have no jobs. Many leave school without adequate skills to enter into self-employment either. Although GDP is rising, with an average of 5% per annum in the past five years, job creation is not as high. The prospect of being unemployed for a very long time has forced many young to seek employment outside Uganda, especially in the Middle East. This has led to a mass exodus of recent school graduates through labour migration.

The case of Uganda exemplifies what Africa is going through. The continent accounts for a substantial share of the global population facing mass poverty. As such, progress made on the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in this region may determine the overall pace of SDG implementation worldwide, given the relatively large levels of deprivations.

A myriad of agendas

Besides the United Nations 2030 Agenda, Africa signed up to two other major development programmes—the Agenda 2063 and the 2011 Istanbul Programme of Action (IPoA).

African countries have been implementing the IPoA, the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063 simultaneously. The idea is that the synergies and complementarities between the three initiatives should yield effective outcomes. But aligning all these plans is a daunting task for many African countries, often resulting in competition with the global agenda.

Convergences and divergences

Although there is substantial convergence between SDGs and Agenda 2063, some differences remain. This is the case for targets, indicators and timelines.

Our research undertaken for Southern Voice’s “State of the SDGs” initiative (SVSS) revealed that at least 65% of SDGs strongly match the goals of Agenda 2063. However, the proportion of targets and indicators that are equally highly matched is only 37 and 40 % respectively. Furthermore, one out of every three targets or indicators in the SDGs have no corresponding association with those of Agenda 2063.

According to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, the SDGs targeting reduced inequality (SDG 10), climate action (SDG 13), life below water (SDG 14), and life on land (SDG 15) are the ones less aligned to Agenda 2063.

Before the adoption of the SDGs and Agenda 2063, African countries were also signed up to the 2011 Istanbul Programme of Action (IPoA). This one was designed for least developed countries (LDCs) for the decade 2011-2020. The Istanbul programme targeted to graduate at least 50% of countries from LDC status by 2020. As such, it was expected that at least 17 African countries would graduate from LDC status. A year away from ending IPoA and despite intense efforts, the objectives are at a very high risk of not being met. This is especially the case for African LDCs.

For example, the requirement to achieve and maintain gross domestic product growth rates higher than 7 % were only met by five LDCs in Africa between 2011 and 2015. Indeed, GDP growth rates have remained too low to offer the required boost to employment creation. Nonetheless, thanks to mobile phone proliferation, financial inclusion has expanded. The hope is that access to financial services could, in the future, be a significant source of the capital required for enterprise start-ups and job creation. The experience of taking on priorities of the IPoA, such as agriculture, food security and rural development, as well as mobilising financial resources for development and capacity building, does provide valuable lessons for the implementation of the SDGs going forward.

Localising SDG implementation

Attainment of the SDGs is only ONE of several cross-national development agendas in Africa. Some of them pre-date the 2030 Agenda. And the existence of multiple development agendas across the continent calls for extensive coordination, management and administration of the implementation processes. It is also worth noting that Sub-Saharan Africa may not reach global targets. This is evidenced by the IPoA, due to expire in 2020. It is vital to localise global targets. Establishing realistic targets, ones tailored to a country’s specific context, can do this. Furthermore, for effective policy alignment, the move from placement in policy documents to actual implementation in actions, regulation, partnerships and programmes, is vital.

In most Sub-Saharan African countries, the localisation of SDGs is housed in the finance ministry or national planning agencies. But comprehensive domestication requires a wide range of stakeholders from multiple sectors. Only then can the diverse, yet interconnected, nature of the SDGs be catered.

About the SVSS initiative

Southern Voice’s “State of the SDGs” initiative provides evidence-based analysis and recommendations to improve the delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As a collaborative initiative, the program compiles a broad range of perspectives that are usually missing from international debates. This report aims to fill an existing knowledge gap. Southern Voice is confident that it will enrich the discussions on the SDGs and level the playing field with new voices from the Global South.

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