The 2017 Africa regional report on Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) assesses the continent’s performance in domesticating and implementing the two development frameworks since their adoption in 2013 and 2015, respectively. The report is aligned with the theme of the 2017 High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF): “Eradicating poverty and promoting prosperity in a changing world”. It focuses on the following six goals of the HLPF: Goal 1 (End Poverty); Goal 2 – (Zero Hunger); Goal 3 (Good Health and Well-being); Goal 5 (Gender Equality); Goal 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure); and Goal 14 (Life below water).

This report is a joint annual publication of the African Union Commission (AUC), the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) of the United Nations, the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the United Nations Development Programme-Regional Bureau for Africa (UNDP-RBA).

The 2017 edition of the Africa Sustainable Development report on Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda uses the latest harmonized data to assess the continent’s performance with regard to implementing both Agendas, identify opportunities and challenges and recommend actions to hasten progress. Documenting the progress made and the lessons learned in the implementation of both Agendas can be useful in strengthening efforts going forward.

The 2017 edition of the Africa regional report on the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063 documents the progress made, lessons learned and challenges regarding their adaptation and implementation. The report is informed mainly by latest data from a broad range of sources, including the International Labour Organisation, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the Statistics Division of the United Nations and the World Bank’s world development indicators. These are complemented by a review of the latest literature on both Agendas and other pertinent analytical works, especially regarding the goals for which data availability is limited.

The objective of Sustainable Development Goal 1 is to end to poverty in all its manifestations, including extreme poverty, over the next 15 years beginning in 2016. All people everywhere, including the poorest and most vulnerable, should enjoy a basic standard of living and the benefits of adequate social protection. Indeed, eradicating poverty remains one of the greatest global challenges today, hence the continued focus on this overarching goal in the 2030 Agenda and in Agenda 2063.

Although progress has been made, hunger and food insecurity are still key development challenges for Africa. While some 194 million people on the continent are severely food insecure, another 161 million are moderately food insecure. Countries in the Sahel and Southern Africa were particularly hit by severe droughts arising from the El Niño phenomenon, which were aggravated by the culmination of several disruptive events, including internal conflicts. The livelihoods of affected communities have been severely disrupted and have required food assistance. These challenges have had a significant impact on the region’s progress regarding acute malnutrition, undernourishment and food insecurity.

Sustainable Development Goal 3 of the 2030 Agenda, to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages, addresses all major health priorities, including reproductive, maternal and child health; communicable, non-communicable and environmental diseases; universal health coverage; and access for all to safe, effective, quality and affordable medicines and vaccines. It also contains calls for more research and development, increased health financing and the strengthened capacity of all countries in health risk reduction and management. Agenda 2063 also contains goals that seek to ensure healthy and well-nourished citizens. There is therefore a high degree of convergence between both Agendas.

Sustainable Development Goal 5, to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls, underscores the importance of improving gender equality and opportunities for sustainable development and how the negative impact of discrimination against women and girls can impede economic and social development. Gender equality is integral to sustainable development and an essential ingredient for economic progress. When women and girls have the means to fully participate in and contribute to socioeconomic development, direct and indirect benefits lead to the betterment of societies and nation States as a whole.

Sustainable Development Goal 9, to build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation, addresses three important aspects of sustainable development: infrastructure, industrialization and innovation. Infrastructure provides the basic physical facilities essential to business and societal development; industrialization drives economic growth and decent job creation, thereby reducing income poverty; and innovation expands the technological capabilities of industrial sectors and leads to the development of new skills. The Goal is aimed at consolidating national and international efforts towards promoting infrastructure development, industrialization and innovation. Achieving this requires increased domestic and international financial mobilization, technological and technical support, research and innovation, and increased access to information and communication technology. Goal 9 is one of the most critical Goals in support of Africa’s aspiration for rapid development and transformation through increased productive capacities. Achieving the Goal will have positive multiplier effects for all other Goals.

Sustainable Development Goal 14, to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development, is aimed at promoting the conservation and sustainable use of marine and coastal ecosystems, preventing marine pollution and increasing the economic benefits to small island developing States and the least developed countries from the sustainable use of marine resources.

In line with the theme of the 2017 high-level political forum on sustainable development, the 2017 regional report on Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda focused on the following six Sustainable Development Goals: Goal 1 (No poverty), Goal 2 (Zero hunger), Goal 3 (Good health and well-being), Goal 5 (Gender equality), Goal 9 (Industry, innovation and infrastructure) and Goal 14 (Life below water). Both Agendas provide a framework to galvanize global and regional support for the realization of national priorities, drawing on the collective action of all stakeholders. Incorporating both Agendas into national development frameworks and plans, as well as designing mechanisms for monitoring and reporting progress, should therefore be the first business of all African Governments.

African Development Bank (2010). African Development Report 2010. Tunis.