Reliable Funding, Regional Integration Vital for Positive Outcomes in African Industrialization, Deputy Secretary-General Tells High-Level Event

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, at the High-Level Event on African Industrialization, in New York today:

I am pleased to be with you.  Since the turn of the century, much of Africa has achieved impressive economic growth.  Sixteen African countries were among the world’s top 30 fastest growing nations.  Last year, the 10 fastest growing African economies posted GDP [gross domestic product] growth rates exceeding 5 per cent.

On the flip side, continued commodity-dependence — coupled with fluctuations in commodity prices — makes African economies vulnerable and hampers their ability to create decent jobs and effectively tackle poverty.  Hence the need for African countries to take further action to advance inclusive and sustainable industrial development.

This is the reason behind the proclamation by the General Assembly last year of the third Industrial Development Decade for Africa.  The Decade represents a global initiative in support of African industrialization.  Through it, the international community acknowledges the important link between industrialization and development, and takes note of Africa being the least industrialized, poorest and the most vulnerable continent in spite of its immense economic and social potential.

The Decade is not an isolated undertaking, but complements other key development initiatives, such as the African Union’s Agenda 2063, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and various bilateral, regional and multilateral initiatives.

There are many requirements needed to make industrialization efforts bear positive outcomes.  Reliable financing is vital, and Africa and its development partners need to mobilize and prudently deploy the necessary funds.  Countries also need to design and implement comprehensive industrial policies, promote industrial entrepreneurship, advance innovation and technology, enhance energy efficiency and promote climate change resilience.

Fund mobilization for the Decade needs to build on the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, which recognizes the importance of industrial development as a critical source or economic growth, economic diversification, and value addition.  It also highlights several key avenues for financing development initiatives.

Equally important is the need to effectively leverage markets through regional integration.  Greater regional integration has the potential to support industrialization by increasing intra-African trade and intra-African investments through the free movement of capital.  Our goal must be to provide jobs and opportunities, particularly for Africa’s growing population of youth.

Industrialization can and must also be a tool for women’s empowerment and gender equality.  For this we must invest in appropriate vocational and skills training and closing the digital divide.

No single country or institution is fully equipped to tackle the challenges of African industrial development on its own.  The implementation of the third Industrial Development Decade for Africa requires concerted efforts from a wide range of stakeholders.  Apart from intra-African partnerships, Africa needs to leverage the full potential of its development partners through appropriate bilateral, regional, inter-regional and multilateral arrangements.  South-South, North-South and triangular cooperation are all necessary.

The United Nations system is a key partner, along with the public and private sectors, financial institutions, civil society organizations and academia.  The Programme for Country Partnership approach by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) should be leveraged to explore funding opportunities and to devise concrete projects.  It provides a strong platform for multi-stakeholder partnership to support inclusive and sustainable industrial development.  It will help build partnerships with various stakeholders, including development finance institutions and the private sector, to mobilize resources on a larger scale to achieve greater development impact.  To that end, pilot programmes have already been initiated in Ethiopia and Senegal.

As we deliberate on the practical aspects to guide the implementation of the third Industrial Development Decade for Africa, I appeal to all partner institutions to use their influence and expertise to promote industrialization and inclusive sustainable development that will benefit all the nations and people of Africa.