In 2015, the United Nations set 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The goals are ambitious and large in scale. The successful implementation of the goals is estimated to require more than two trillion USD.
This is a huge sum of money. In addition to the investment requirement, it also needs the joint efforts of all concerned bodies.
The last part of the set goals, partnership for implementation calls for international level cooperation of different stakeholders for the realization of the 16 goals. “Developing multi-stakeholder partnerships to share knowledge, expertise, technology, and financial support is seen as critical to overall success of the SDGs.”
In this regard the private sector role can be taken as an important partner for successful implementation. For decades, the private sector has been playing vital role in the social and economic development of nations throughout the world.
The private sector is wide and far-reaching. They can contribute to the realization of almost all goals directly or indirectly. They can help in addressing poverty through attaining economic development and creating jobs etc. They can also contribute effectively in addressing the health, education, climate, and other challenges.
While, the private sector has been discharging its responsibility and enjoying favorable conditions in some countries, it has also suffered in others. Yet it still exists to contribute its share as an important partner to the public.
So far, the role of the private sector in the economy of Ethiopia has been facing challenges due to some bureaucratic problems. As a result of this the country is said to have sustained loss of economic opportunities.
Currently, the government has started implementing measures of easing doing business that aim to pave the way for a better involvement of the sector in the social and economic activities of the country.
These measures are believed to bring about improvement in the service delivery of the government to businesses thereby enabling them to perform to their maximum capacity and generate the benefit they could provide to the country’s economy and the public.
In addition to the measures of easing doing business, the ongoing reform activities by the government are also likely to boost the activities of the private sector in the overall development of the country.
As a matter of chance the successful operation of the private sector activities are likely to help realize the provisions of the SDGs. Therefore, as the government strives for simplifying the activities of the private sector, the latter must also discharge their responsibility accordingly. By doing so the private sector can contribute not only in the success of the SGDs, but also in the overall environment where they operate.
Furthermore, as stated earlier, the success of the SDGs requires international level cooperation. Hence, this should also consider raising the capacity of the private sector so that they can in turn raise their role to the effectiveness of the set goals.
The Ethiopian Herald June 22/2019
