H.E. Amb Téte António, Minister of External Relations of the Republic of Angola and Chairperson of the Executive Council,

H.E. Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, Chairperson of the African Union Commission,

H.E. Dr. Gedion Timothewos, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia,

H.E. Selma Malika Haddadi, Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission,

Honourable Ministers,

Distinguished Delegates,

Ladies and Gentlemen:

It is an honour to address this Forty-Eighth Ordinary Session of the Executive Council.

On behalf of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, I thank the Government and people of Ethiopia, our gracious host, and commend the African Union Commission for convening us at this critical moment for our continent.

Indeed, we meet at a time of profound economic transition.

As we speak, global growth is slowing, trade tensions are intensifying and supply chains are being reorganized.

Furthermore, capital has become more expensive and development assistance, that was once a predictable pillar of support, is declining.

This is exacerbated by a worsening security situation and persistent climate change.

We are witnessing a transition to a world economy organised around industrial strategy, geopolitical competition and control of key resources.

In short, the rules of development are changing.

For decades, developing countries relied on an external model: export raw commodities, import manufactured goods and finance development through concessional flows.

But that model is no longer viable.

The implication for Africa is clear: our development can no longer depend primarily on external conditions.

It must increasingly be organised around our own continental economic system.

Across the continent, African governments are managing tighter fiscal space, higher borrowing costs and limited credit ratings.

It is not right that today, only three African economies are investment rated, with five approaching investment-grade status, while 19 countries have never been rated at all.

This state of affairs significantly increases the risk premium African countries pay to finance development.

But more than a fiscal challenge, it is also a structural one.

When finance is expensive, infrastructure is delayed.

When infrastructure is delayed, production is constrained.

And when production is constrained, industrialisation stalls.

Meanwhile, Africa possesses land, renewable energy potential, critical minerals and a young labour force.

But do we have the economic systems that allow those assets to generate value?

This is why the African Union’s Theme of the Year: “Assuring Sustainable Water Availability and Safe Sanitation Systems to Achieve the Goals of Agenda 2063” is so important.

Indeed, water and sanitation are not merely social services but economic infrastructure.

When viewed through an economic lens, access to water becomes a measure of productive readiness.

However, across Africa, more than 300 million people still lack access to safe drinking water and roughly 780 million lack adequate sanitation.

Water-related diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea and typhoid continue to claim lives across the continent — causing approximately 115 preventable deaths every hour in the African region, according to WHO.

The economic implications are significant.

Poor water and sanitation reduce labour productivity, increase health expenditures and discourage investment.

Factories require reliable water supply, agro-processing requires irrigation, and cities require sanitation systems to function productively.

In fact, investment decisions – including the location of industries and industrial parks – depend on reliable basic services, including access to water.

But without reliable water systems, industrial zones cannot operate competitively, logistics hubs cannot expand efficiently, and urban economies cannot grow sustainably.

At ECA, we view development as an integrated economic system.

Infrastructure, finance, trade and industrial policy function together.

And water sits alongside transport, energy and digital connectivity as a foundational input into economic production.

When productive inputs are unreliable, economies cannot manufacture competitively.

And when economies cannot manufacture competitively, they remain exporters of raw materials rather than producers of value.

Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,

If Africa is to compete globally, we must move beyond exporting raw commodities.

We must process our minerals, transform our agriculture and produce higher-value goods.

This is the logic of value addition and regional value chains.

In this respect, the African Continental Free Trade Area represents Africa’s foremost development platform, enabling production at scale and competitive industries within our continental market.

As global trade fragments, regional integration becomes vital.

I am confident that Africa will industrialise because our continental market allows production to be organised internally.

But it will require a policy response which must be deliberate, coordinated and anchored in our economic priorities.

Allow me, Excellencies, to outline five priority actions for our collective attention.

First, Africa must mobilise and manage development finance more effectively.

To this end, we should strengthen domestic resource mobilisation, improve public financial management and enhance credit credibility, so that African countries can access capital markets on fairer terms and reduce the cost of infrastructure financing. It is not right that Africa’s tax to GDP ratio remains at 16% compared to 34% in EU.

Additionally, innovative instruments, including green bonds, blue bonds and blended finance, should be used to fund productive infrastructure, including water systems that support economic activity.

Second, we must invest in integrated productive infrastructure.

Water systems should be planned alongside transport corridors, ports, energy networks and digital infrastructure, so that they support industrial parks, logistics hubs and productive cities rather than operate as isolated sectoral projects.

Third, we must accelerate value addition through regional value chains under the AfCFTA.

African resources must increasingly be processed within the continent in agro-processing, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing and green minerals.

This will allow our trade to move from raw exports to industrial exports.

Fourth, we must deepen continental market integration.

This requires full implementation of the AfCFTA, including the removal of tariff and non-tariff barriers and the harmonisation of standards.

With efficient customs systems in place, African firms will be able to expand production across borders and anchor sustainable industrialisation.

Fifth, Africa must harness technology and data as economic infrastructure.

Digital platforms, artificial intelligence and data systems can improve tax administration, logistics management, trade, infrastructure maintenance and industrial productivity.

Investing in digital public infrastructure will strengthen state capacity and enable more competitive economies.

Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,

Africa possesses the assets – the resources, markets and demographic momentum to achieve structural transformation.

What we must now build is coordination: finance that supports infrastructure, infrastructure that supports industry and industry that supports trade.

If we finance our infrastructure, integrate our markets, add value to our resources and trade more with each other, Africa will not just participate in the global economy; it will help shape it.

And the ECA is ever ready to support this agenda in close partnership with Member States, the African Union and regional institutions.

I thank you for your kind attention.