Theme: “Inclusive and Sustainable Industrialisation in the AfCFTA Era”

What:       The annual commemoration of Africa Industrialization Day commemorated through a weeklong event. The event will be held virtually through a series of webinars covering a range of topics and themes relevant to Africa’s industrialization agenda.

When:     16 – 20 November 2020

Time:        10:00 – 19:00 Addis Ababa (GMT+3) Daily

Where:    Virtual Platform, ZOOM Webinars.

Registration:

·      Main Programme: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_SB5rMTQXTeyfOWteaI13SQ

·      Parallel Sessions: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_VVYZR_yERxO5CXY18I5sXA
 

Who:  Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) of the African Union Commission (AUC) in partnership with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), AfroChampions Initiative and the Government of Niger.

Objectives:

The main objective of the AIW 2020 is to bring together various stakeholders involved in Industrialisation on the Continent. The goal is to raise awareness on the strides made to industrialize Africa, to highlight the various activities being implemented as well as the challenges faced in the efforts to advance structural transformation in Africa. The event will also provide an opportunity to share best practices from other parts of the globe that have made advancements in their Industrialisation drive including the development of start-ups.

Specifically, the AIW 2020 seeks:

·      To reinforce the industry-trade nexus in the context of the business opportunities presented by the AfCFTA

·      To build up the momentum ahead of the planned AU Summit on Africa Industrialization and Economic Diversification in 2021.

·      Reinforce the development of regional industrial value chains towards the creation of employment and entrepreneurial opportunities for MSMEs, Youth and Women.

·      Provide high-level political support to drive a globally competitive Africa-Industrialization program through public-private alliances, at the national, regional, continental level, and aligned global policy coherence, coordination and linkages, investment financing.

·      To showcase the advancements made in Africa’s industrialization and best practices from the continent, creating a platform for knowledge exchange

·      To promote the implementation of AU continental frameworks such as; the Accelerated Industrial Development of Africa (AIDA); the Africa Mining Vision (AMV), the SME Strategy; the Boosting Intra-African Trade strategy (BIAT); the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA); the Sustainable development Goals (SDGs) and the UN General Assembly's Third Industrial Development Decade for Africa (IDDA III) in the context of Agenda 2063.

Participants:

The event will bring together a range of stakeholders of Industrialisation in Africa. These include:

·      Head of States

·      Ministers of Trade and Industry

·      Representatives from AU Member States

·      Private Sector representatives: The AfroChampions Initiative, PACCI, Pan-African Manufacturers Association

·      Quality Infrastructure Institutions and Stakeholders: PAQI, AFRAC, AFSEC, AFRIMETS, ARSO

·      Intellectual Property Institutions: WIPO, ARIPO, OAPI Mr. Edward Hightower,

·      Regional Economic Communities,

·      AU Commission, AUDA-NEPAD

·      UN Agencies: UNIDO, UNECA, UNDP, ITC

·      Development Banks: Afreximbank, AfDB, BADEA

·      Others: Academia, Civil society, Research Institutes, Think Tanks, Independent experts and Researchers, Youth Entrepreneurs

Notes to Editors:

The 20^th November was proclaimed Africa Industrialisation Day by the 25th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in 1989. The same date was set aside annually as Africa Industrialisation Day by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 1989. The 20^th November has since been observed each year as Africa Industrialisation Day. Since 2018, the Africa Industrialisation Day has been commemorated through a weeklong event involving the private sector, diaspora, African governments, youth, women, international cooperation partners; among several stakeholders. The 2020 edition of Africa Industrialisation Week is scheduled to take place from 16^th to 20^th November 2020 as a virtual event.

This year’s celebrations present a unique opportunity to consolidate the continent’s vision to build a self-resilient, self-reliant Africa, the Africa We Want, given remarkable political traction on regional economic integration, as confirmed by milestones this far on the trade front through fruition of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), a liberal trading regime that will create an enlarged US$3 trillion market, with 1.27 billion consumers.

Further information:

Mrs. Ron Osman Omar| Department of Trade and Industry, African Union Commission I Email: omarr@africa-union.org; Or Ms. Bame Modungwa E-mail: modungwab@africa-union.org.                                                                 

Media inquiry:

Mr. Molalet Tsedeke, Directorate of Information and Communication of the AUC, Tel: 0911-630631; Email: molalett@africa-union.org;