The Future of Sustainability Conference 2026

Thanks, you Moderator Leanne Manas  

Deputy DFFE Minister, TOPCO Media CEO & Leadership, Delegates, Sustainability Champions,  

Good morning. 

I want to begin with a number: 1,385 basis points. 

That is the average premium African countries pay above United States Treasury rates to borrow on international markets. Comparable economies elsewhere (Asia) pay closer to 200 basis points. 

This is not a technical detail. It is the difference between building a hospital or servicing debt. It is the difference between financing a renewable energy project or filing it away. 

Crucially, this premium is not driven by African risk. It is driven by the perception of African risk. 

That distinction matters, because perceptions can change. Systems can change. And increasingly, Africa is forcing that change.  

For many years, conversations about sustainability in Africa focused on what the continent lacked: capital, capacity, or policy coherence. 

However, that framing is no longer accurate, and it is no longer useful. 

Africa today is not waiting for permission to develop. Instead, it is asserting agency economically, politically, and institutionally. 

This is evident in South Africa’s leadership of the G20, which placed debt sustainability, climate finance, digital public goods, and reform of the international financial architecture firmly on the global agenda. 

This is not about special pleading. It is about systemic fairness and functionality. 

As a result, Africa is no longer asking whether the global system can deliver development. It is asking whether the global system can remain legitimate without reform.  

At the same time, we must be honest about the scale of the challenge before us. 

As the Secretary‑General has warned, we are facing a development emergency. 

Halfway to 2030, the Sustainable Development Goals are dangerously off track. This is not because we lack ambition. It is because we face a crisis of delivery. 

Development finance is contracting precisely when it is most needed. Geopolitical fragmentation is raising the cost of capital. Climate shocks are compounding inequality. 

Yet this is not a failure of vision. Rather, it is a failure of alignment. Capital is not aligned with outcomes. Institutions are not aligned with urgency. Commitments are not aligned with implementation. 

Therefore, this decade will be defined not by the promises we make, but by whether we can deliver at speed and at scale.  

If sustainability is to move from aspiration to reality, three shifts are essential. 

First, we must move from fragmented projects to delivery platforms. 

Pilots are no longer enough. What is required are mechanisms that align public policy, private capital, development finance, and institutional capacity around bankable and scalable transitions. 

Second, we must change how risk is priced. 

High borrowing costs in Africa are not inevitable. They reflect outdated assumptions, fragmented finance, and insufficient risk‑sharing. 

Blended finance, guarantees, and concessional capital must therefore be deployed not as exceptions, but as standard tools to unlock investment at scale. 

Third, we must redefine how we measure success. 

Success should not be judged by announcements made, but by systems transformed, including jobs created, emissions reduced, resilience built, and inequality narrowed. 

This is the shift from coordination to acceleration, a shift the Deputy Secretary‑General has repeatedly underscored as essential to SDG delivery.  

This brings me to a critical point. 

We will not achieve the Sustainable Development Goals goal by goal or sector by sector. 

Acceleration comes through transitions, where progress in one domain reinforces progress in others. 

Food systems that improve nutrition, livelihoods, and climate resilience. 
Energy systems that expand access while lowering emissions. 
Digital connectivity that unlocks productivity, service delivery, and inclusion. 
Jobs and social protection systems that reduce inequality and build trust. 
Climate action that safeguards development gains. 

These are not abstract concepts. They are the SDG transitions now guiding United Nations support globally, and they are embedded in South Africa’s development pathway.  

This integrated approach is precisely what underpins the United Nations–South Africa Cooperation Framework for 2026 to 2030. 

The Framework recognises that inclusive growth, governance reform, and climate resilience are not sequential choices. They are mutually reinforcing imperatives. 

It treats climate resilience and environmental stewardship not as standalone sectors, but as foundations for long‑term development, enabled by blended finance, digital transformation, institutional capacity, and partnerships at every level. 

In this sense, sustainability is not a constraint on growth. It is the engine of growth, provided our systems are aligned accordingly.  

We are operating in a contested moment for multilateralism. 

Trust is under strain. Rules are being tested. Cooperation can no longer be taken for granted. 

At the same time, this is a moment of opportunity. 

Through UN80, the Pact for the Future, and G20‑driven reform debates, the global system is being asked a fundamental question: can it adapt to deliver for people, planet, and prosperity in the twenty‑first century? 

Africa’s answer is clear. 

Reform is not optional. Delivery is not negotiable. Delay is no longer acceptable. 

The next ten years will determine whether sustainability becomes Africa’s breakthrough or its bottleneck. 

This is not a question of ideas. It is a question of choices. 

If we choose delivery over delay, integration over fragmentation, and financing that matches ambition, then this decade can still deliver shared prosperity, resilience, and dignity. 

Africa has shown that it is ready to lead. 

The question now is whether capital, institutions, and partnerships are ready to move with it. 

For the private sector in this room, the call to action is clear. Responsible business today means aligning capital, operations, and innovation with realeconomy impact.  

It means moving beyond ESG commitments on paper to investment, partnerships, and delivery on the ground.  

That is precisely why the United Nations including the Global Compact, business leaders including NASPERS and the JSE, asset owners and managers including the Principles for Responsible Investment; and government have come together through the South Africa Business Initiative for Impact, SABII.  

Not as another dialogue, but as a platform for companies to help finance and deliver the energy transition, digital inclusion, human capital development, and resilient agri-food systems at scale. 

The invitation is simple: bring your capital, your capability, and your leadership into platforms that deliver measurable impact, and help turn this decisive decade into one of shared prosperity. 

The United Nations therefore stands ready to work with all of you, across government, business, finance, and civil society, to ensure that this decade delivers real, measurable, and lasting change through capital allocation, business models, and delivery platforms. 

Thank you.