Africa must rely more on domestic resources rather than foreign aid, FG tells African leaders

The Federal Government has stressed the need for African countries to strengthen domestic revenues and reduce over-dependence on foreign funding, and warned that sustainable development cannot be achieved through external aid alone.

The position was expressed on Wednesday by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, at a high-level capacity building meeting involving heads of national revenue agencies and members of the Joint Revenue Agency in Abuja.

The event also featured officials from the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, who are in Nigeria on an experience-sharing mission to study the Integrated National Financing Framework (INFF) designed to accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Addressing the participants, Oyedele said Africa’s development aspirations require innovative financing strategies that rely on stronger domestic resource mobilization, especially as traditional concessionary funding sources become increasingly limited.

According to him, although international aid and foreign investment remain valuable, they cannot replace a country’s ability to independently produce and manage the resources necessary for long-term growth.

“Africa faces a significant funding gap in meeting the Sustainable Development Goals and the aspirations of Agenda 2063. Traditional concession financing is becoming increasingly limited, while climate pressures and post-pandemic recovery continue to stretch fiscal systems across the continent.

“This is not a reason to despair, but rather an opportunity to rethink how development is financed and to ensure that every available source of capital is aligned with national priorities.

“The Integrated National Financing Framework is not bureaucratic nomenclature, but a fundamentally different way of thinking about how a country mobilizes, aligns and uses funding for sustainable development.

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“The future of development finance will not only be determined by available resources, but also by how effectively we mobilize, align and deploy those resources to support national priorities.

“Nigeria is proud to share what we have learned, and equally eager to learn from our Ethiopian counterparts.”

The Minister noted that Nigeria’s financing framework seeks to provide a more strategic approach to development by ensuring that public and private resources are coordinated and directed towards clear national priorities.

In her remarks, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, described the workshop as timely, and stressed that the government’s ability to secure adequate and sustainable funding remains critical in achieving development targets.

He emphasized the important role of state governments in providing services that have a direct impact on communities and argued that strengthening regional fiscal capacity was critical for national progress.

“As we continue to pursue the aspirations of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and our national development priorities, the question of sustainable and adequate funding remains at the heart of our collective achievements.

“While significant efforts have been made at the national level to mobilize resources for development, it is increasingly clear that achieving sustainable development outcomes depends critically on the fiscal and institutional capacity, as well as the financial resilience of local governments.”

Highlighting the responsibilities borne by the state government, Orelope-Adefulire added:

“They bear constitutional and primary responsibility for critical sectors such as basic health services, basic education, water and sanitation, agriculture, infrastructure and local economic development.”

He further emphasized that countries must become more financially resilient if Nigeria is to achieve meaningful development outcomes.

“Nigeria’s Integrated National Financing Framework (INFF) provides a strategic and comprehensive approach to aligning all sources of financing—public, private, domestic and international—with national development priorities and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“INFF realizes that achieving sustainable development cannot rely solely on traditional public funding.

“Instead, this requires a coordinated approach that strengthens domestic resource mobilization, improves public financial management, increases spending efficiency, increases private sector investment and encourages innovative financing mechanisms.

“In this framework, strengthening fiscal capacity at the regional level is not just a technical effort; it is a strategic imperative.

“Countries must be empowered to expand their revenue base, improve tax administration, strengthen budgeting and expenditure management systems, increase transparency and accountability, and create an enabling environment that attracts sustainable investment.

“The fiscal realities facing many local governments underscore the importance of this agenda. Increasing spending pressures, limited internal revenues, rising infrastructure deficits, climate-related vulnerabilities and growing economic uncertainty continue to pose challenges to development financing efforts.

“Addressing this problem requires innovative thinking, bold reforms and stronger collaboration among all key stakeholders.

“Therefore, this strategic workshop provides an important platform for dialogue, knowledge exchange and joint problem solving.

“This provides us with an opportunity to examine practical strategies for strengthening fiscal systems, identify successful practices across states and international contexts, and explore how INFF can serve as a catalyst to unlock additional financing for sustainable development at the local level.”

Also speaking at the event, the Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Nigeria, Mrs. Elsie G. Attafuah, underscored the growing importance of state and local governments in achieving global development goals.

He argued that development results are ultimately delivered at the grassroots level and that strengthening regional fiscal systems should be seen as a key development priority and not simply an issue of increasing revenue.

“Sustainable Development Goals are ultimately implemented in states, provinces, cities and communities. Schools are built at the sub-national level. Health services are delivered at the sub-national level.

” Infrastructure investment, local economic development, business support and job creation increasingly depend on the capacity of local institutions to mobilize resources, manage them effectively and direct them towards development priorities.

“This is why strengthening fiscal capacity at the state level is not just a revenue issue. It is fundamentally a development issue. When states strengthen their fiscal systems, they strengthen their ability to invest in human capital.

“As they improve revenue administration, they expand the fiscal space needed to support growth, resilience and inclusion. As they build stronger institutions, they improve their ability to translate policy ambitions into measurable results.

“This understanding is at the heart of Nigeria’s Integrated National Financing Framework, which seeks to align all sources of financing with national development priorities and the Sustainable Development Goals.

“This framework recognizes that achieving development outcomes requires more than just additional resources. It requires stronger institutions, better coordination, smarter financing strategies, and greater capacity at every level of government.”

The workshop is part of ongoing efforts to deepen cooperation between African countries on innovative financing models capable of supporting sustainable development amidst increasing economic pressures, shrinking donor support and increasing infrastructure needs across the continent.