President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has called for financial and material support from the private sector to achieve targets set under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

The 17 pillars of the SDGs aim to permanently address extreme poverty, zero hunger, quality education, gender equality among others.

President Akufo-Addo, who is Co-Chair of the SDGs implementation, says the success of the goals will be measured by its impact on target groups.

He made the remarks on Monday at the Jubilee House when some financial institutions presented a copy of the Kumasi Declaration on the SDGs to him.

“What is happening with the initiative...is making clear to our people that these goals that were identified in New York some few years ago are not something hanging in the air which is the talk of diplomats and politicians when they meet in conferences in New York and elsewhere. But that they have a direct impact on the lives of ordinary people across the globe,” the President said.

The Declaration is a gesture of support by the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II to the President's global role as Co-Chair of the Eminent Group of Advocates for the SDGs.

The Declaration seeks among other things to address the need for the government to create the enabling environment for traditional and religious leaders, civil society, the youth and the public and Private sectors to attain the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The Declaration is also to honour Ghanaian statesman and former Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan for his central role in shaping the SDG's and other developmental agenda including the Millennium Development Goals and the United Nations Global Compact with Business.

President Akufo-Addo expressed his appreciation to the Asantehene for the "excellent initiative", which would strengthen his resolve to ensure that Ghana attains the SDG's.

"I am happy about the outcome of the Kumasi declaration. It strengthens my hand, particularly my role as Co-chair of the Secretary General's Eminent Group of Advocate that I can bring to the table, something which is uniquely Ghanaian in terms of the mixture of the various elements that have gone into it.

"I believe that if we are able to sustain these kinds of initiatives within our own modest resources, we can find a strong weapon and mechanism for advancing the goals of these SDGs," he stated.

"So, Ghana can use this (Kumasi Declaration) as a back up to its work on the SDGs... it means that we can get a serious hand on how to move forward in this regard," the President noted.

He also praised the religious leaders for supporting the SDG cause.

The declaration urges the Government to enhance mechanism for mobilising domestic resources in support of the realization of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as well as create innovative and blended financing structures that can integrate public investment with traditional corporate financing.

To tackle gender inequality, the declaration affirmed support for women entrepreneurship as a part of a broader programme on the empowerment of women and increased investment in education and training particularly girls.