Minister Sinon attends 20th meeting of African ministers for industry
The ambition is to place industrialisation at the center of the post-2015 development agenda to be sent to President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia in her capacity as chairperson of the African Union High Level Panel of the post-2015 Development Agenda.
Also present at the meeting were high level representatives of the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and other multilateral institutions such as the African Development Bank (AfDB).
The conference was officially launched by the Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Following a meeting of senior officials, the ministers’ conference kicked off with two round-table discussions followed by the considerations of the senior officials report, after which it considered and adopted a Ministerial Declaration before closing. The two round tables were:
(1) Industrial South-South Cooperation in the Post-2015 Development Agenda.
Ministers welcomed the establishment of the BRICS Development Bank and recommended that Africa needs policy space for industrialisation.
In order to address challenges of youth unemployment, poverty and disease Africa needs to engage with partners especially those from the South such as Brazil, Russia, India and China to invest in industrial sectors and transfer technologies to the continent.
Capacity building, human resource development, research and development were deemed as critical for South-South cooperation.
Ministers advised that efforts to prioritise regional and continental cooperation over other alliances with countries outside the continent should be considered.
They also agreed that giving priority to essential infrastructure projects and programmes critical to industrialisation such as energy, transportation, and ICT are primordial.
(2) Sustainable Implementation of the ‘Accelerated Industrial Development Agenda’ (AIDA).
The ministers made the following recommendations:
• To prioritise financing and resource mobilisation aspects of the AIDA strategy;
• To increase collaboration between ministries of Finance and that of Industry in mobilising resources for industrialisation;
• To favour industrial sustainable green as opposed to brown industrial investments;
• That the AU Commission is called upon to follow closely the actions for the implementation of the decision taken at TICAD V on the offer by the government of Japan to assist African countries in the area of green industry;
• To develop and promote Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to enhance investments and access to renewable energy for productive use for rural development;
• For countries to formulate and roll out their respective industrial policies. The policies should be aligned to AIDA and support the development of regional value chains.
• Governments should create the enabling environments for the creation and operation of the SME/SMIS including access to affordable financing mechanisms;
• To promote private sector entrepreneurship especially empowerment of women and youth.
• To promote capacity building, research and innovation for industrialisation where standards need to be strengthened and disseminate new and appropriate technologies, appropriation and transfer.
The ministers also advised that there be close collaboration between the African Union Commission (AUC) and RECs in order to avoid duplication and ensure implementation of the AIDA through the Implementation Coordination Unit (ICU) to be established at the AUC headquarters.
After the adoption of the Nairobi Declaration, the ministers’ conference was closed by M. William Ruto, deputy President of the Republic of Kenya.
He urged the ministers to reflect deeply on how to effectively direct and implement the industrial agenda and assured the conference of the commitment of Kenya to realise the objectives of CAMI.
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