UNECA canvasses trade-induced industrialisation

For Africa to be able to address its problems of poverty and lack of employment, it requires a very dynamic industrial sector, where trade plays a key role, The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa’s (UNECA) latest economic report on Africa has argued.

The report subtitled “Industrialization through Trade” mirrors major development challenges confronting African countries and efforts to address them through trade.

Rwandan Minister of Finance and economic Planning, Claver Gatete, while presiding the discussions on the report, said: “This report is a rich one. It is a useful reference source for in-depth discussions about the right policies to facilitate greater trade and faster industrialization in Africa”.

He explained that robust trade and a strong industrialization form part of the same nexus that generate wealth and build prosperous nations.

“Africa needs to create wealth by producing not only for ourselves but also for others and that underscores the importance of trade,” says Gatete.

“Promoting deeper regionalism can provide a significant boost to the development of Regional Value Chains, trade performance and industrialization” the report argues.

At national level, the report recommends the need to have clear policies and visions, about industrialization and trade.

Director of ECA in Eastern Africa, Antonio Pedro, notes that the report identifies enabling factors beyond policies and visions.

He argues that trade-driven industrialization does not happen by decree; rather, it requires concerted action from governments and other stakeholders to translate visions into actions.

“The route to industrialization will differ from country to country depending on their initial endowments and other enabling factors, including the quality of leadership, skills base infrastructure stock and legal and regulatory frameworks,” Pedro added.

Pedro said that the Economic Report on Africa 2015 also emphasized the message conveyed by UNECA in the report of 2013 that stressed the importance of commodity-based industrialization.

“We need to maximize value addition of our commodities to reduce the exposure to price volatility and promote resource-driven industrialization to retain Jobs on the continent.”

Rwanda’s Director of TradeMark East Africa, Mannington Namara, called on African countries to take advantage of the new market linkages provided by regional integration and invest in industrialization by adding value to their primary commodities.