Ministers of Economy, Planning, Finance and Economic Development meet in Abuja to strategise on industrialisation in Africa

Abuja, 25 March 2014 – Dr. Anthony Mothae Maruping, Commissioner for Economic Affairs at the African Union Commission (AUC) has called on African governments to develop industrial policies that are aimed at reducing inequality at all levels. The Commissioner was speaking on 25 March 2014, while addressing experts at the opening ceremony of the meeting of the Committee of Experts of the Seventh Joint Annual Meeting of the UNECA Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development and the African Union Conference of Ministers of Economy and Finance, holding in Abuja, Federal Republic of Nigeria, under the theme: Industralisation for inclusive and transformative development in Africa”.
Commissioner Maruping said most African economies have been performing well in terms of headline numbers without significant impact on the lives of the people. “Africans are therefore calling for major structural transformation to sustain the current economic performance,” he noted. He stressed that the next critical level is industrialization as the means to meaningfully join the global value and supply chains where opportunities and jobs are created. “Africans are therefore calling for Major structural transformation to sustain the current economic performance, but also to move to the next critical level, which is industrialization among others… Africans today want to take charge of their development agenda. This is demonstrated by the two historic and unprecedented continental processes…the Common African Position on post-2015 development agenda (CAP) and Africa Agenda 2063 processes”. He noted. (See complete speech of Commissioner Maruping on the AU website: www.au.int ).
Mr. Abdalla Hamdok , Deputy Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, on his part underscored that African countries need to channel their resources to activities in industry, manufacturing and modern services in order to create more employment and improve the welfare of vulnerable groups. He said the continent should focus on developing a manufacturing sector that is interlinked to other sectors of the economy and is capable of raising productivity. Addressing participants Mr Hamdok further explained that Africa’s growth potential remains largely untapped and the existence of spare capacity in Africa, suggests that growth can be fostered with policies that stimulate aggregate demand and trade within Africa and between Africa and the rest of the world. He added that, the stimulation of aggregate demand requires greater internal articulation or close and mutually reinforcing links between various economic sectors and geographical regions. “despite its rapid economic growth over the last decade, Africa continues to display glaring contradictions between economic and social indicators, as poverty remains pervasive while unemployment among women and the youth remains very high. In a bid to tackle the
challenge, the focus of this year’s gathering is on industrialization for inclusive and transformative development of Africa”, he stated. (See complete speech of Mr. Hamdok on the AU website: www.au.int)
Mr Anatole Yehoan Tohougbe, Chairperson of the Outgoing Bureau of the Committee of Experts and Technical Advisor at the Ministry of Planning and Development of Cote d’Ivoire on the other hand presented the report of the meeting of the Extraordinary meeting of Expert of the African Conference of Ministers of Economy and Finance (CAMEF) that preceded the COM14 meeting in Abuja from 21-24 March 2014. The issues were mostly focused on the alternative sources of finances of the Africa Union. “Africa’s path to development should focus on commodity-based industrialization, especially in developing a manufacturing sector that is interlinked to other sectors of the economy and is therefore capable of raising productivity and further enhancing the competitiveness of African economies in the global market” he underlined among other recommendations of the CAMEF.
Present at the opening were representative of the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Mr Abraham Nwankwo, Director General of Debt Management Office, Federal Republic of Nigeria; African Ambassadors; Members of the Diplomatic Community;and Senior Officials from Ministries of Finance, Planning and Economic Development as well as Central Banks.

Media Contacts
Mercy Wambui, External Communications and Media Relations Section, Economic Commission for Africa, Tel: +234 (0)8094557268, Email: mwambui@uneca.org
Esther Tankou, Directorate of Information and Communication, African Union Commission (AUC), Tel: +234 (0)9094263843, E-mail: yamboue@africa-union.org / esthertankou@yahoo.com
Sophia Denekew, External Communications and Media Relations Section, Economic Commission for Africa, Te: +234 (0) 9094263896 denekews@uneca.org
Salisu Saleh Na’inna, Chair, Publicity, Trade and Culture Sub-committee, Government of Nigeria Tel. : +234 (0) 8023144711, Email: salisusaleh002@gmail.com