On the sidelines of the seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD7), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the African Union Commission (AUC) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) pursued the intrinsic connection.
YOKOHOMA, 27 August 2019 – The United Nations Development Industrial Organization (UNIDO), the African Union Commission (AUC) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) actively pursued the intrinsic connection between the seventh Tokyo International Conference for Africa Development (TICAD7), the Third Industrial Development Decade for Africa (IDDA III) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
“TICAD has become one of the major forces in support of Africa’s development efforts and, since its inception, UNIDO has been a most trusted partner”, said UNIDO Director General LI Yong. “The successful implementation of IDDA III is poised to accelerate African industrialization with greater coherence and economies of scale. This will be further facilitated by the AfCFTA, which was ratified on 7 July 2019 and consists of 1.2 billion consumers and a GDP of US$ 2.5 trillion”.
Japanese Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Kenji Yamada said “TICAD7 focuses on Africa’s economic transformation with private sector investment and innovation through public-private partnership and can be materialized through concrete industrial policies and practical partnership approaches, for which we also rely on UNIDO”. METI Deputy Director General for Trade, Economic Cooperation Yoichi Watanabe said “The importance of supporting infrastructure and human resource development for the industrial sector must be stressed, as it is an essential element of METI’s support to Japanese companies in Africa, which it undertakes in cooperation with the UNIDO ITPO Office in Tokyo”.
“When focusing on the structural transformation of Africa, one should support UNIDO’s Programme for Country Partnership (PCP) model,” said AfDB’s Director of Industrial and Trade Development Abdu Mukhtar.
A high level Panel featuring H.E. Mr. Alan Kyerematen, Minister of Trade and Industry of Ghana, H.E. Ms. Soraya Hakuziyaremye, Minister of Trade and Industry of Rwanda and H.E. Mr. Christoph Yaluma, Minister of Commerce and Industry of Zambia, together with other distinguished panelists from Africa and Japan (please see programme) discussed the potential for business and development in the Continent with the advent of AfCFTA, IDDA III and TICAD7.
The event also witnessed the signing of an MOU between UNIDO and NEC Corporation, to cooperate on ICT technologies and safer and smart cities in Africa.
For more information, please contact:
Victor Djemba
Chief
UNIDO Regional Division – Africa
