The Minister of State for Trade, Industry & Cooperatives David Bahati says Africa’s industrial future is now dependent on women-led initiatives, youth innovation, and sustainable industrial models.
Currently Africa contributes 10.4% to continental GDP with just 2% of global manufacturing, yet with 1.25B people today, and 2.5B by 2030, the potential is enormous.
Minister Bahati how ever says for African countries to achieve proper growth there should be reduction of high costs of energy, transport & capital.
He also says there should me an ammendment in procurement laws that are responsible for delays in starting up several projects.
The Minister was speaking at the opening ceremony of the African Industrialization Week being Hosted by the Government of Uganda.
The week-long activities organised by the Ministry of Trade Industry and Cooperatives, the African Union and partners are running under the theme “Transforming Africa’s Economy through sustainable Industrialization, regional integration and innovation”.
Uganda’s progress is remarkable: from 81 factories in 1986 to nearly 10,000 today, with manufacturing contributing 15.6% of GDP and exports worth $10.6B.
The Africa Industrialization week has attracted close to 500 delegates, 200 of them from the African Union.