Nigeria needs no fewer than $337 billion to implement Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs, from 2019 to 2022, the United Nations Support Plan for the Sahel has estimated.

United-Nations

The cost of implementing the SDGs in Nigeria, according to the plan is $80.65 billion  in 2019, $82.83 billion in 2020, $85.07 billion  in 2021 and $87.37 billion in 2022.

On the investment needs in the Sahel, the plan reported the cost of implementing the SDGs in the Sahel is projected to be between $140.25 billion and $157.39 billion per year between 2019 and 2022 in the 10 Sahelian countries.

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The plan said the 10 countries under the UN Integrated Strategy for the Sahel, UNISS, needed an average of $148.7 billion annually to implement the SDGs or $594.8 billion from 2018 to 2022.

The overarching goal of the plan, targeting 10 countries, namely Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, The Gambia, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal, is to scale up efforts to accelerate shared prosperity and lasting peace in the region.

The plan covering the period of 2098 to 2030, would help implement identified priorities to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the African Union Agenda 2063, the report said.

The plan further stated that public-sector funding gap, on average, remained at 36.2 per cent of the required resources.

UNISS was approved by the Security Council in 2013 and is part of a preventive and integrated approach to strengthening governance, security and development in the region.

The plan aims at mobilising public resources and triggering private investments in the 10 countries in support of ongoing efforts and initiatives by governments, international and regional organisations, among other partners.

It said in terms of natural resources, the Sahel is one of the richest regions in the world and is abundant with oil, natural gas, gold, phosphates, diamonds, copper, iron ore, bauxite, biological diversity and precious woods, among many other assets.