Industrialization for Development

Industrial development is of critical importance for sustained and inclusive economic growth in African countries. Industry can enhance productivity, increase the capabilities of the workforce, and generate employment, by introducing new equipment and new techniques. Industrialization, with strong linkages to domestic economies, will help African countries achieve high growth rates, diversify their economies and reduce their exposure to external shocks. This will substantially contribute to poverty eradication through employment and wealth creation.

In July 1989, the Organization of African Unity (O.A.U.) conducted its 25th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Africa Industrialization Day was announced on November 20 during this session. Within the framework of the Second Industrial Development Decade for Africa (1991-2000), the United Nations General Assembly, in December 1989, proclaimed 20 November “Africa Industrialization Day” (A/RES/44/237). Since then, the United Nations System has held events on that day throughout the world to raise awareness about the importance of Africa’s industrialization and the challenges faced by the continent.

Agenda 2063:

AGENDA 2063 , adopted in January 2015 by the Heads of States and Governments of the African Union in Addis Ababa, is Africa’s blueprint and master plan for transforming Africa into the global powerhouse of the future.

Based on 7 aspirations and 20 priorities , it is the continent’s strategic framework that aims to deliver on its goal for inclusive and sustainable development  and is a concrete manifestation of the pan-African drive for unity, self-determination, freedom, progress and collective prosperity pursued under Pan-Africanism and African Renaissance.

The need to envision a long-term 50-year development trajectory for Africa is important as Africa needs to revise and adapt its development agenda due to ongoing structural transformations to ensure inclusive growth, sustainable development, political unity, and respect for democracy and human rights.

Agenda 2063 and the SDGs are intertwined as the two programmes aims at a more sustainable common future on a healthy planet.