THE AFRICAN INDUSTRIALISATION WEEK 2019 (AIW 2019)

18th- 22nd November 2019

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) of the African Union Commission (AUC) is pleased to announce that the annual African Industrialization week dubbed (Aiw2019), will be held from the 18th to the 22nd of November 2019 at the African Union Head Quarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Aiw2019, is organized in collaboration with International Trade Centre, Geneva (ITC), Ethiopian Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI), the Korean-African Foundation and Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce, the Africa Free Zones Organisation (AFZO), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), European Union, and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). The theme of the AIW 2019 event is : “Positioning African Industry to Supply the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Market”.

The AIW 2019, which builds upon the positive outcomes of the inaugural 2018 African Industrialization Week, and comes on the heels of the lauch of the Operational Phase of the AfCFTA on 7 July 2019 at the Extra-Ordinary Summit of the Africa Union Heads of State and Government (HoS/G) in Niamey, Niger could not have come at a better time. With the AfCFTA ushereing in a market space of at least US$3.4 trillion, and a consumer base of 1.27 billion, there is no doubt that moving the continent’s industrial production frontier, becomes critical, as enterprises tap into large scale opportunities on the back of free trade. The Aiw 2019; through leveraging public-private dislugue platforms, seeks to: engender industry policy coherence in Africa; enhance effective engagement of key stakeholders by the AUC on industrialization and trade related subjects in the context of the AfCFTA; intensify synergies between the private and public sectors as they interface with global capital and technology; and explore the possibilities of a new model of developing Africa’s productive capacities to boost intra-African Trade.

Given the urgency to boost industry capacity to supply the AfCFTA market and beyond, this year’s celebrations also focus on exploring tools; and business instruments that strengthen industry’s capacity to compete and innovate . The promotion of domestic and foreign investment, is another point of focus for the AIW2019 celebrations.

Against this background, the celebrations will be capped by the participation of at least 1,000 multi-stakeholder delegates drawn from the private sector, public sector, civil society, Development partners, trade and industry think tanks within and utside Africa. The sectoral profile of the Business Start-Ups includes: high tech companies, manufactures, tourism, medicare, automotive, textiles, fertilisers, and financial sector. , These areas turn out to be critical areas for Africa’s economic transformation in the medium- to- long-term. To date, we have 900 confirmed participants, in comparison to 300 delegates in 2018, demonstrating the significance of the event. .

There will be a High – Level Opening Session, on 20th of November, the Industrialisation Day, which will be attended by Heads of State and Government (HoS/G), senior public officers corporates, and Development Cooperation Partners. The Panel discussion will be delivered through parallel thematic sessions, on key subjects of the continent’s industrialisation that include but is not limited to; the African Auto Value Chain; African Fashion Value Chain; She Trades, Business Start- Ups Exihibition, SMEs development; Busines to Business interface sessions, among others .

DTI as your hosts shall be be delighted to see you join us on our journery to leverage industrialisation and deliver on Agenda 2063, to curve out “the Africa We Want”; a prosperous and peaceful Africa characterized by A shared, inclusive and balanced growth.

For more information, please contact:

1. Mrs Esther Azaa Tankou| Head, Information Division| Directorate of Information and Communication, African Union Commission | E-mail: yamboue@africa-union.org

2. Mrs Ron Osman Omar| Senior Industry Officer | Industry Division, African Union Commission | E-mail: OmarR@africa-union.org