Accelerating Industrialization in Southern Africa

ADDIS ABABA (ILO News) – The ILO Assistant Director-General and Regional Director for Africa, Aeneas Chapinga Chuma, will represent the International Labour organisation (ILO) at the 21st Session of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts (ICE) Meeting on “Accelerating Industrialization in Southern Africa through Beneficiation and Value Addition”.

The strategic meeting convened by the UNECA Sub-region Office for Southern Africa will focus on the main issues paper for interactive discussion and review by senior experts from governments, private sector, academia, international development institutions and civil society through roundtables and presentations.

The forum will advance the recommendations made the by the last SADC Head of State Summit for a roadmap to accelerate industrialization in the sub region.

The consensus of opinions among experts is that Africa has the potential for increasing its production of higher value-added products. Accelerating industrialization can potentially contribute to the expansion of trade within Africa and between Africa and the rest of the world through the diversification of exports.

However, despite the progress made in a number of countries, industrialization in Africa remains a challenge: i) agriculture has not been sufficiently modernized and the manufacturing base is very low around the continent; ii) manufacturing is dominated by artisanal activities in mostly in the informal sector and is therefore insignificant in most African economies; iii) the degree of export diversification is very low as most African countries continue to export unsophisticated commodities; iv) markets are small and fragmented in most parts of Africa.

Africa's economies can benefit from strong industrialization strategies, with greater emphasis on value addition to the extractive sectors and modernization of agriculture.

The recommendations from this meeting will be presented to the Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic development from 25-31 March 2015 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The ICE is a UN statutory annual meeting which brings together experts from Southern Africa and the continent to discuss current pressing issues affecting the social and political economy of the Southern Africa region.

For further information, please contact:
Contact(s): ILO Harare Country Office, Block 8 Arundel Office Park, Norfolk Road, Mt Pleasant, Harare. Tel +263 4 369805-12, Email [email protected]