13:30 to 15:00 CET : High-Level Interregional Dialogue On Facilitating Investment in SDG Projects, in partnership with Caribbean Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (CAIPA) And The East African Community (EAC) and Southern African Development Community (SADC) Secretariats.

October 20, 2021

Introduction

Facilitating investment in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) projects entails a wide range of stakeholders as different as local governments and regional integration schemes, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), development finance institutions, impact and institutional investors, and community groups whose goals are not always focused on profit maximisation. Therefore, investment facilitation in SDG projects is a wider ranging and complex activity that goes beyond dealing with multinational enterprises (MNEs).

Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic radically changed the international investment landscape and pushed investment promotion agencies (IPAs) and alike to change their way of doing business, their sector priorities and to embrace new technologies, while in many cases facing budget cuts. This and the accruing needs for SDG project finance are critical sources of stress for IPAs, adding to the complexity.

This interregional dialogue discussed findings, recommendations, and best practices from three different developing regions: Southern African Development Community (SADC), the East African Community (EAC) and the Caribbean. It has brought together high-level regional and IPA executives and private sector representatives who discussed the opportunities in facilitating investment in SDG projects, with a focus on the role of regionalisation and regional value chains as a key strategy.

Session Highlights

Panel – I: Regional and intraregional cooperation in facilitating investment in SDG projects

The Panellists discussed the fall in investment in SDG. During the pandemic Investment in SDG fell by one-third. SDGs investments saw a steep fall of 39 percent in Africa, 40 percent in Latin America and the Caribbean. In the least developed countries (LDCs) 31 percent or fewer greenfield projects were announced in the  SDG sector, also the project finance number turbulently decreased by 23 percent because of the pandemic. Worldwide lockdown dragged the FDI investment 42 percent lower than the 2019 FDI flow level. The health crisis severely impacted the developing nations as the cross-border project finance deals related to SDGs decreased by 36 percent in value and 14 percent in number compared to 2019.

The Panellists discussed the specific strategies to prevent this investment fall in SDG. Panellists actively supported the investment chain approach, and investment in all the SDGs related activities like SMEs, gender equality, youth empowerment, etc. Need for a new investment platform to increase the opportunity to meet more investors, capacity building was felt, while supporting market intelligence through digitalisation which has a high impact on investors. Several Panellists emphasised on capacity building of the entire investment chain and knowledge centre. The pandemic shifted or changed the priorities and investments made in SDG related projects on the backend because this time is now survival mode. Thus, investment promotion and investing in SDG projects are crucial strategies to bouncing back from the pandemic. Capacity building, secure funding, technical assistance to implement these investments in the SDGs related project are necessary tools in this regard.

The Panellists discussed reinvigorating the investment in SDG projects, focusing on higher potential sectors within the SDGs. Building partnership to understand; what is the size of the opportunity, how to unlock the opportunities, and collaboration between government and business are the major steps to unlock these opportunities. Panellists discussed investment in the SDG projects, at the same time mentioned that focusing on gender equality, youth empowerment, capital injection in the SMEs, business development, leveraging partnerships, pulling out resources together, advanced market intelligence are some of the key drivers to eliminate the effect of the pandemic.

Panel – II: IPAs challenges in facilitating investment in the SDG project?

The Panellists discussed the challenges in facilitating investment in the SDG projects. Investments mostly thrive on their respective countries’ priority sectors. The deliberation was mostly focused on investment in agriculture followed by education & ICT, manufacturing, tourism, and mining & energy sectors mainly to create a pool of jobs. Panellists also depicted the interlinkage of each sector. To facilitate the investment opportunities, Panellists discussed the adoption of new market strategies for SDGs investment opportunities, identification of relevant SDG projects, and identification of government priority in these sectors. Also monitoring & evaluating tools for SDGs, policy priorities, and actionable SDG investment opportunities, are crucial.

The Panellists discussed investment in Uganda. Uganda is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, with a GDP of US $35.7 Billion and a population of 44.26Mn. Before the pandemic economic growth was stable and it was about 6.8 percent but fell to 2.9 percent in 2020 due to COVID 19. Uganda is one the most investment attractive countries in East Africa and Africa, and was fifth in terms of FDI attraction. In the pandemic, these investments were mainly promoted & facilitated in the health sector.

As a concluding note, it was discussed that the infusion of SDG policy-making and point system for the investor to look at their incorporation of SDG practices in their investment principle, need to be monitored. Also for each of the investments, there should be an investment indicator and clear goals.

Opening

Mr. James Zhan, Director, Division on Investment and Enterprise, UNCTAD       

On the panel were:

Panel I, Regional and interregional cooperation in facilitating investment in SDG projects

  • Moses Ikiara, CEO, Kenya Investment Authority and Director of the Board, COMESA RIA
  • Damie Sinanan, Manager Competitiveness and Export Promotion, Caribbean Export Development Agency
  • Peter Varndell, CEO, SADC Business Council

Panel II,  IPAs challenges in facilitating investment in SDG projects

Investment facilitation in the health sector

  • Paul Kyalimpa, Deputy Director General, Uganda Investment Authority,

Facilitating SDG investment in agribusiness

  • Khanyisile Dlamini, Executive Manager, Eswatini Investment Promotion Authority (EIPA)
  • Fabienne Michaux, Director, SDG Investor Map Programme, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

Investment facilitation at the regional level (regional i-Guide portal)

  • Diane Edwards, President of Jampro and first Vice President of Caribbean Association of Promotion Agencies (CAIPA)

Moderator

  • Yvonne Okwara, Senior News Anchor, Kenyan Television