Seven years have passed since world leaders met in New York and agreed on 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to solve major challenges such as poverty, hunger, inequality, climate change and health. The pandemic has undoubtedly diverted attention from some of these issues in the last couple of years. But even before COVID-19, the UN was warning that progress in meeting the SDGs was not advancing at the speed or scale needed. Greeting them in 2030 will be difficult. The pandemic has demonstrated like nothing else the power of working collaboratively, across borders, for the benefit of society.

The Assistant Secretary General and Director of the Regional Bureau for Africa of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Ms. Ahunna Eziakonwa, called on African countries to take advantage of the opportunities offered by digital technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), blockchains and machine learning, and deploy these in various sectors for the achievement of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). She made the call during a panel session at a side event at the 7th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD7) in Yokohama, Japan. The event, titled "From Idea to Action: Harnessing the Potential of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) in Africa's Development", was organized by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the World Bank. Ms. Eziakonwa noted that, Africa needs to harness the potential of STI for development by prioritizing policies and making investments to increase access to state-of-the-art technologies such as e-governance, finance and digital literacy and skills – at secondary and TVET (Technical and Vocational Education and Training) level. She called for the adoption of innovative financing schemes that combine both public and private sector resources and technical expertise for the achievement of the three dimensions of sustainable development: economic, social and environment.