On Monday, April 7, 2025, Speke Resort Munyonyo hosted the SDG Activation Day themed “Forward Faster Now in Africa,” a private sector space within the 11th Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD-11).
The eleventh session of ARFSD (ARFSD-11) is co-organized by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the Government of Uganda, in partnership with the African Union Commission, the African Development Bank, and the UN Global Compact.
The event, labelled “Driving job creation and economic growth through sustainable, inclusive, science-and evidence-based solutions for the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063,” aligns with the 2025 HLPF theme on advancing sustainable solutions for the SDGs.
The SDG Activation Day focused on five key areas of the Forward Faster initiative, with emphasis on living wages, gender equality, and finance investments. Organized by the UN Global Compact’s Africa Hub, it brought together businesses from across Africa to raise awareness, share experiences, and showcase tools to accelerate progress toward Agenda 2030.
In his remarks, Antonio Pedro, the Deputy Executive Secretary (Programme Support) at ECA, emphasized that the SDGs require more than just public sector engagement, as they demand joint action across civil society, development partners, and especially the private sector.
“Africa stands at a defining moment, with high levels of labour informality and over 113 million people either unemployed or underemployed. Yet with over 60% of its population under 25, with its immense resource potential, and with the AfCFTA unlocking the potential of a $3.4 trillion market, the opportunities are immense. But we must remember that potential is not progress. We must unlock this potential inclusively, sustainably, and quickly,” Antonio Pedro stated.
“The private sector is crucial to job creation, innovation, and prosperity for all Africans. To achieve our shared goals, we must move from plans and conferences to concrete actions. The private sector has the resources and innovation to scale solutions, but these efforts must align with national development strategies to avoid duplication and maximize impact. When the private sector, government, and civil society collaborate, we can drive systemic transformation and ensure no one is left behind,” he added.
I&M Bank Uganda participated in the SDG Activation Day, represented by CEO Robin Bairstow. He joined fellow private sector leaders in championing sustainable development, accelerating progress on the SDGs, and amplifying Africa’s collective voice for inclusive growth and meaningful impact.
While speaking on the Finance, Investments, and Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) panel, Bairstow highlighted that green finance offers a significant opportunity for banks, allowing them to tap into a growing sector that focuses on sustainability and environmental responsibility.
“Through this financing, we’re able to bring electricity to areas with no immediate plans to connect to the grid—particularly rural areas. This is especially important in regions with no electricity. This illustrates how corporate-level funding can have a direct, life-changing impact on people living in remote areas,” Bairstow said.
Bairstow added that a centralized repository of available funding options from various benefactors could be incredibly useful.
“If such a hub existed, banks, financial services companies, and microfinance institutions, could easily access information about the funding options they could offer to underserved communities more effectively,” he said.
Other PPPs panellists included Mukami Kariuki- the Country Manager of the World Bank in Uganda, Sarah Carl- Head of Programmes and Policy Development at IOM Uganda, Robert Hanna- Director of Sustainable Energy Botswana, and Allan Mafabi- CEO of Britam Insurance Uganda, among others.
This session explored how to mobilize more internal and external capital- including for SMEs, mitigation and fair distribution of risk, and leveraging innovative financial tools (such as PPPs, carbon markets, and sustainable bonds) to advance the SDGs. It also focused on SDG-sensitive sectors where investment opportunities exist for SMEs and start-ups.
