Growth and Development Finance Required for Achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Africa

Abstract

Abstract We estimate the additional investment required to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with a focus on SDG 1 on ending extreme poverty by 2030 as well as alternative scenarios of reducing poverty. Ending poverty will be an insurmountable task. Africa requires a double‐digit growth rate of 16.6 per cent per year between 2015 and 2030 to end extreme poverty by 2030, which corresponds to an investment‐to‐GDP ratio and a financing gap to GDP ratio of 87.5 and 65.6 per cent per annum, respectively. However, the estimates on the required growth rates vary widely across sub‐regions and levels of development of individual countries. Countries and sub‐regions with low initial poverty levels and higher responsiveness of poverty to income will be able to end poverty with lower growth rates and lower development finance. The paper outlines the potential policy implications of our findings.