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Developing Countries Face $4trn Investment Gap In SDGs – UN

Published

2 years ago

July 6, 2023

The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on Wednesday warned that a green future would remain out of reach if the world doesn’t help developing countries close a two-trillion-dollar gap in investment toward an energy transition.

According to a new UNCTAD report, developing countries actually face a staggering four trillion dollar gap in sustainable development investments.

The UNCTAD Secretary-General, Rebeca Grynspan, said that a significant increase in material support for renewable energy in developing countries was crucial for the world to reach its climate goals by 2030.

While investment in renewables has nearly tripled since the adoption of the Paris Agreement almost eight years ago, poorer nations have been largely left out.

Grynspan said more than 30 developing countries had not registered a single international investment in utility-size renewable energy generation since the landmark climate change treaty was adopted in 2015.

According to UNCTAD, the amount of foreign direct investment in clean energy attracted by developing countries in 2022 stands at 544 billion dollars — well below needs.

Some good news from the report is that energy companies among the top 100 multinationals have been increasingly turning toward renewables and divesting fossil fuel assets at about 15 billion dollars per year.

However, the report shows an overall slower pace of investment in renewable energy in 2022, “as international project finance deals declined”.

In developing countries, the largest gaps in Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs)-related investments were in energy, water and transport infrastructure, UNCTAD said.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) is also on the decline, according to UNCTAD, as global flows fell by 22 per cent in 2022, to 1.3 trillion dollars, while in Least Developed Countries, the vast majority of which are in Africa, FDI inflows dropped by as much as 16 per cent.

UNCTAD’s report says that the slowdown was driven by “overlapping crises”: the war in Ukraine, high food and energy prices and debt pressures.

With these factors still in play during 2023, the agency said that it expects “downward pressure on global FDI” to continue this year.

The report calls for series of policies and financing mechanisms to be put in place to help developing countries attract necessary investments.

UNCTAD stressed the importance of debt relief for developing economies, to provide them with the fiscal space needed for clean energy spending and to help lower country risk ratings, a prerequisite for attracting private investment.

The agency also recommended reducing the cost of capital for clean energy investment through partnerships between international investors, the public sector and multilateral financial institutions – a measure that can reduce the spread on borrowing costs for energy investment projects in developing countries by up to 40 per cent.

Grynspan insisted that investment played a “huge part” in achieving the SDGs.

She said they were simply “too big to fail”, calling them “the only game in town” which requires collective action and global solidarity.

News

Dangote Group Agrees To redeploy Workers Sacked By Refinery

Published

1 hour ago

October 1, 2025

Editor

After a peace meeting, the Dangote Group has agreed to redeploy the workers sacked by its subsidiary, Dangote Petroleum Refinery.

The resolution was announced on Wednesday by the ministry of labour and employment in a statement on the outcome of the reconciliation meetings held on Monday and Tuesday.

Aliko Dangote, founder of Dangote Group, and representatives of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) met on Tuesday with Wale Edun, the minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, and Mohammed Dingyadi, minister of labour and employment to resolve the labour dispute.

Disclosing other agreements reached during the meeting, the ministry said the parties agreed that the disengaged workers will be absorbed by other subsidiaries in Dangote Group without loss of pay.

“The Honourable Minister of Labour informed the meeting that unionisation is a right of workers in accordance with the laws of Nigeria and that this right should be respected,” the ministry said

“After examining the procedure used in the disengagement of workers, the meeting agreed that the management of Dangote Group shall immediately start the process of taking the disengaged staff to other companies within the Dangote Group, with no loss of pay.

“No worker will be victimised arising from their role in the impasse between Dangote and PENGASSAN.

“PENGASSAN agreed to start the process of calling off the strike.

“Both parties agreed to this understanding in good faith.”

On September 26, PENGASSAN instructed its members to embark on a nationwide strike over the dismissal of workers by Dangote refinery.

News

Edo Taxes Paid To Delta Treasury, Stakeholders Allege

Published

2 hours ago

October 1, 2025

Editor

Stakeholders have lamented the continued remittance of taxes accruing to Edo State Government to Delta, saying this has resulted in massive loss of revenue.

The stateholders, which included commissioners, senior civil servants, members of the judiciary in Edo State spoke on Wednesday
at a meeting the Edo State Inland Revenue Service (EIRS) held with ministries, departments and agencies on revenue collection challenges.

In his welcome address,
Executive Chairman of the EIRS, Otunba Oladele Bankole-Balogun, who
said though the EIRS was making progress in terms of revenue collection, stated that there was the need for all the stakeholders to work together and increase the state’s revenue base.

Bankole-Balogun, while noting that the EIRS has adopted a Treasury Single Account (TSA) to reduce leakages in tax collection in the state, said: “A fundamental tool for achieving this is the single Treasury Account, which we have begun to try and institutionalised. It ensures that all government agency receipts, or all government receipts, flow through a transparent, centralised account for eliminating cash handling, reducing leakages, and, most importantly, improving accountability.

“So, going forward, we want to encourage that all revenue streams be remitted into the state IGR account with proper digital records and accountability.

“Remember that revenue is not an end in itself. It’s just a means and means to better roads, stronger health systems, vibrant education, safer communities and dignity for all the citizens of our state.”

He said the state was waiting for the commencement of the new national tax law and the state would key into it.

Also speaking on loss of revenue, the Managing Director of the Edo State Traffic Management Agency (EDSTMA), Engr Stainless Ijeghede, said he had made reports on the payment of taxes of oil company workers in Edo State to Delta, but the Edo State government was yet to take any action on that

“When I go there to work, at the end of the month, I still see in my pay slip, tax Delta, all my years there, I didn’t see tax Edo. What that means is that those people who work in Oben pay tax to Delta State Government.”

On his part, Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice of Edo State, Hon. Samson Osagie,
said that several meetings on the boundary issues have been held and adjustments made, stressing that he expects the National Boundary Commission (NBC) to visit the areas and ratify the boundaries to stop the revenue loss.

He disclosed that his ministry is proposing a Revenue Court Law that would create specific courts to try tax offenders.

Osagie said: “There is the need for Revenue Court and revenue Courts law, the whole idea is to ensure that the entire gamut of our tax system is put together in a way that enforcement and prosecution of tax offenders are easy.”

News

FG, Nigerian Army Intensify Forces To Combat Proliferation Of small Arms, Light Weapons

Published

3 hours ago

October 1, 2025

Editor

The National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW), Northeast Zonal Centre, under the Office of the National Security Adviser to the President has intensified forces with the Nigerian Army to fight the menace of the proliferation of illicit small arms and light weapons in the country.

Speaking on Wednesday during a courtesy visit to Maj:-Gen. A.E Abubakar, the Theatre Commander, Joint Task Force, Northeast, Operation Handin Kai in Maiduguri, Maj-:Gen Abubakar Adamu (Rtd), the Northeast Zonal Coordinator, NCCSALW Northeast Zonal Centre, said the collaboration was necessary in mopping up Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) in the Zone.

Adamu, who stated the negative impact the proliferation of illicit SALW has on peaceful coexistence in the nation and its socio-economic activities, pledged the Centre’s continuous cooperation with the Nigerian Army especially in intelligence sharing which he said, was paramount in preventing the proliferation of this SALW in the country.

“One of our responsibilities is to prevent the proliferation of small Arms and Light Weapons and to also enlighten the people. We are a multi agency department and we have the police, the DSS, and also retired military officers as well as serving military officers.

“We have been empowered to receive all illicit small arms and light weapons that have been retrieved from all the agencies and we are the people responsible to destroy them,” he said.

While commending the Nigerian Army for always being at the forefront in ensuring that the country was safe for all to live in, Adamu promised to strengthen the partnership in order to further make the country a better place for all to live.

“We are also the only organization empowered to prosecute gun runners and all the people that have been arrested in terms of dealing with small arms and light weapons.

“What we are doing is to visit major stakeholders and to also share intelligence, information and to collaborate because we know without the armed forces, there is no way we can eradicate the proliferation of small Arms and Light Weapons,” he added.

Adamu also explained that the centre had collected small arms and light weapons from Nigerian Army operation Safe Haven in Plateau state and destroyed them last month.

Responding, Maj:-Gen. A.E Abubakar promised to support the Centre so as to achieve its mandate while recalling the past records of the Zonal Director as a result-oriented and patriotic officer.

He also commended the Centre for working hand in hand with all the security agencies, traditional rulers and key stakeholders, adding that this would go a long way in mopping up and tackling the proliferation of illicit Small Arms and Light Weapons in the country.

He promised to keep working in synergy and in cooperation with the centre, urging them to come at any time for proper documentation in order to collect all the available recovered small arms and light weapons from the theatre command.

It could be recalled that the centre, on August, 27 also paid a courtesy visit to Brig.-Gen. U.V Unachukwu, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 7 Division, Nigerian Army Headquarters in Maiduguri to strengthen ties with the Division in the fight against the proliferation of illicit Small Arms and Light Weapons in the country.