Cynthia Rowe, the Development Director at the British High Commission (BHC), says achieving Sustainable Development Goals would accelerate actualisation of Nigeria’s economic growth ambitions.
Rowe said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria ( lNAN) on Sunday in Abuja.
She said that it was imperative for government to tackle the challenges that could hinder the realisation of the set goals.
She described Nigeria as one of Africa’s largest economies, and it’s biggest democracy that planned to grow its economy from 450 billion dollars in 2022 to one trillion dollars in 2026.
She , however, said that this development had been constrained by factors like a weak growth rate, insecurity, and high poverty rate, which had reached 46 per cent in 2023.
According to Rowe, by addressing
these challenges and prioritising governance and inclusive institutions, Nigeria can unlock its economic potential and achieve sustainable development.
”To achieve sustainable development and economic growth, Nigeria must focus on governance and Goal 16 of the SDGs, which emphasises building effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions to eradicate poverty.
”Research shows that countries with inclusive governments tend to experience sustained economic growth, less instability, and internal conflict along side practical life changing benefits.
”Inclusive governance can bring numerous benefits, like 23 per cent better access to safe water, 35 per cent more immunisation for children and up to 40 per cent of people having access to electricity,” she said.
She said that it could also result to 20 per cent increase in GDP per capital in the 25 years following democratisation, compared to countries that remained in autocracies.
Rowe said that governance reforms was key to achieving many goals.
According to her, the UK governance partnership with Nigeria is focused on the capacity of institutions to use their human and financial resources to deliver basic services like health, education and agriculture.
She reiterated the UK’s commitment to improving on important areas like trade and investment, defence and security, governance and human capital development. ( NAN)
