For the world to honor the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Africa must succeed. This message was emphasized repeatedly by government representatives, UN leaders, and civil society from the recent High-level Political Forum on the SDGs (HLPF) held at UN Headquarters in New York.

Why is Africa’s role so critical? Partly, it is because the continent faces one of the steepest paths to success. As home to many of the world’s poorest countries, the continent has some significant challenges when it comes to achieving the SDGs. Take the goal of ending global poverty (SDG 1). With 71% of the world’s poorest people living in Sub-Saharan Africa, the path to meeting this goal globally—or even coming close—lies directly through this continent.

Likewise, our collective pledge to end hunger (SDG 2) depends on tackling this issue in Africa, which is home to roughly two-fifths of the world’s 673 million people suffering chronic hunger. On energy access (SDG 7), Africa makes up 86% of the world’s 655 million people who lack access to electricity. And the list goes on: from barriers to quality education (SDG 4), health and well-being (SDG 3), or clean water and sanitation (SDG 6), the continent faces significant headwinds.

Despite these challenges, Africa has made progress on the 2030 Agenda. According to the UN’s Sustainable Development Report 2026, Africa has achieved noteworthy successes, including a 25% reduction in maternal mortality (SDG 3). In 2025, it also achieved the “highest share of women in managerial positions globally at 44.6%”—a win worth celebrating. There have also been gradual, incremental gains in many areas, such as life expectancy and progress tackling various diseases.

At the HLPF in New York this July, delegates heard from 36 countries that have just published their latest “voluntary national reviews” (VNRs) on the SDGs. This included 16 countries from Sub-Saharan Africa and 19 in total from the continent. While every country from the region had important successes to celebrate, two key messages emerged.

First, a great deal remains to be done if the continent is to come close to delivering on the promise of the SDGs.

Secondly, the rest of the world needs Africa to succeed. Without this, the global vision of the SDGs will falter and the central pillar of the 2030 Agenda—leave no one behind—will fall.

Honoring SDG Pledges

One of the biggest challenges facing Africa today is developed countries’ dwindling aid budgets. As many Western countries pivot their spending toward their militaries or domestic priorities, official development assistance (ODA) is in decline. Grants focused on poverty reduction have fallen to levels not seen since 2015, while aid for health programmes, food assistance, and education have also dropped. According to the UN’s Sustainable Development Report 2026, only grants for water supply and sanitation have grown in recent years.

Almost all major donors have cut ODA in the past few years. Most noteworthy, the United States has slashed its aid budget by 57 percent in 2025, the largest fall by a single donor ever. It isn’t alone. In fact, 26 out of 34 donor countries have recently decreased their support. Further reductions are expected in 2026.

These cuts jeopardize some of the continent’s gains and successes, ranging from the immediately tangible to systemic wins. For instance, reductions in the rates of HIV and tuberculosis infections previously driven by ODA support are now at risk. African countries’ ability to monitor and measure progress on the SDGs—which has improved significantly since 2015—is also at risk and widely considered critical. The detailed knowledge that comes from better data and indicators has helped African governments identify gaps and improve the allocation of their finite resources. But data systems in many developing countries depend on ODA. With the recent deep cuts, these statistical systems may be seriously affected. 

Such ODA cuts run counter to both expectations and needs. At a major UN meeting held last year in Spain, delegates adopted the Sevilla Commitment, which highlights a $4 trillion gap in annual financing for the SDGs.

African countries at the HLPF made the message clear. “The major challenge is the financing gap resulting from the non-compliance of developed countries to meet their SDGs’ commitments,” Liberia’s President, Joseph Boakai, declared in his country’s 2026 national report to the HLPF.

Even in the absence of adequate support from others, developing countries are not standing still. Many are looking to mobilize more domestic resources, for instance through increased tax revenues. During discussions at the HLPF and in the latest round of progress reports they presented, the level of commitment from African countries to the SDGs was obvious. “Rwanda remains fully committed to accelerating progress toward the 2030 Agenda,” Finance Minister Yusuf Murangwa announced in the country’s new report on the SDGs. This sentiment was shared and echoed in almost every VNR and HLPF statement delivered by Africa countries in 2026, demonstrating the continent’s commitment to the SDGs. The rest of the world must now deliver on pledges to prioritize support for those furthest behind.

Chris Spence is an associate of the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and writes regularly about the UN, sustainable development, and climate change.