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Your Excellency Mahamadou Ouhoumoudou, Prime Minister of the Republic of Niger;
Your Excellency Gourouza Magagi Salamatou, Minister of Trade and Youth Entrepreneurship of the Republic of Niger;
Your Excellencies Ministers answerable for industrialization and financial diversification;
Distinguished Senior Officers;
Strategic Companions;
Girls and Gents.
I nice every one among you.
At the beginning, I wish to file deep appreciation to the Authorities and Individuals of Niger for taking care of us very nicely.
We’ve certainly been very nicely acquired.
The hospitality is excellent.
The convention amenities are of very excessive requirements, offering a conducive atmosphere for our deliberations.
As a part of the welcome, we have been final night time uncovered to charming and memorable dances and songs of Niger, which uncovered to us, the entertaining, wealthy and dynamic tradition of this nice nation.
We can not want for something extra. In response, all we are able to say and do is categorical deep gratitude.
Accepting to host us is a gigantic duty. On this respect, I would really like additionally to convey, by means of His Excellency the Prime Minister, to His Excellency Mohammed BAZOUM, President of the Republic Niger, the Authorities and Individuals of the Republic of Niger profound appreciation for accepting the heavy duty to host this Ministerial in addition to the upcoming seventeenth Extraordinary Session of the Meeting of the Heads of State and Authorities of the African Union.
That is one more demonstration of the dedication of the Republic of Niger to financial integration, inclusive progress and sustainable improvement in Africa.
We held a number of conferences right here in Niamey between 2017 and 2019 to carry to life, the African Continental Free Commerce Space.
We are actually assembly right here to develop a provide base for our continental market by means of inclusive industrialization and financial diversification.
By way of Your Excellency the Prime Minister, we additional salute His Excellency Mohammed BAZOUM, President of the Republic Niger, the Authorities and Individuals of the Republic of Niger for this robust and dynamic spirit of Pan-Africanism.
I’m very glad to see Your Excellencies, Ministers collaborating on this joint assembly on industrialization and financial diversification which is being held to organize for the seventeenth Extraordinary Session of the Meeting of the African Union on Industrialization and Financial Diversification scheduled to be held, as earlier said, on twenty fifth of November 2022 right here in Niamey, Republic of Niger.
I do understand that, given your urgent commitments, it could have been troublesome so that you can attend this joint assembly.
Your presence right here is extremely appreciated and is testimony of the precedence that you simply connect to this process of renewing our dedication to industrialize Africa in a sustainable, dynamic and inclusive method to assist financial diversification, competitiveness and prosperity as an built-in market.
This work requires strategic collaboration. On this respect, I might additionally to precise honest gratitude to our co-organizing companions. These are: the United Nations Industrial Improvement Group (UNIDO); the United Nations Financial Fee for Africa (UNECA); the United Nations Workplace of Particular Adviser on Africa (UN-OSAA); the United Nations Improvement Programme; the African Export Import Financial institution (Afreximbank); the African Commerce Insurance coverage Company (ATI); the African Improvement Financial institution (AfDB); the African Union Improvement Company (AUDA-NEPAD); the Arab Financial institution for Financial Improvement in Africa (BADEA); the Islamic Worldwide Finance Company; and, the Afro-Champions Initiative.
All of them contributed, in some ways, within the preparations for the extra-ordinary session of the Meeting and previous conferences resembling this one.
My first comment on the substantive subject earlier than us is to recall that the economic coverage framework of Africa is the Motion Plan for the Accelerated Industrial Improvement for Africa (AIDA) which has seven clusters; specifically:
Industrial coverage and institutional course;
Upgrading manufacturing and commerce capacities;
Promote infrastructure and vitality for industrial improvement;
Human sources improvement for business;
Industrial innovation methods, Analysis and Improvement, and expertise improvement;
Financing and useful resource mobilization; and,
Sustainable improvement.
I’m certain that there’s a unanimous place on this room that the fundamental drawback going through us within the face is that not very a lot has been carried out to implement the AIDA clusters.
Two evaluations of AIDA have come to the identical conclusion.
Towards this background, we have to introspect on what we have to do to enhance implementation of AIDA.
The start line is to harness the spirit of pragmatism.
Allow us to be taught from our errors and adapt accordingly.
Allow us to, from the teachings of expertise construct capabilities that can make our industrialization course of develop with a dynamism of its personal.
For instance, altering the notion and narrative that Africa is a high-return however equally high-risk funding vacation spot begins with us.
It’s us, no different area of the world which can rebrand Africa.
Though the Senior Officers, as I’ll present later, name the African Union Fee to undertake this, my view is that we want, Member State and the African Union Fee to collectively dialogue with African sovereign, pension and pension funds in addition to the African diaspora.
The specified final result can be to persuade them to switch their holdings present process destructive yields overseas to Africa and put money into the African Funding Financial institution, an establishment offered for within the Constitutive Act of the African Union, amongst different African Union monetary establishments..
In the identical spirit, allow us to additionally dialogue with the African non-public sector to make use of the African Funding Financial institution and different Pan African Monetary establishments just like the African Improvement Financial institution, the African Export Import Financial institution and the African Commerce Insurance coverage Company, amongst others, to put money into manufacturing and agro-processing in Africa.
By doing so, we’d display to the remainder of the world that the fact on the bottom is that Africa is a high-return and low-risk funding vacation spot when their investments in Africa begin producing excessive and protected returns.
To take these actions, we have to imagine in ourselves.
Believing is ourselves, amongst others, implies that such motion ought to be taken with unshakable resolve to remodel into implementable programmes and tasks, all of the clusters of AIDA.
We additionally have to work collectively in a spirit of Pan-Africanism which gave us the African Continental Free Commerce Space.
With pragmatism and nationalism, our moms and dads secured for themselves and ourselves, the independence all of us get pleasure from right now.
They usually used that to create the Group of African Unity, forerunner to the African Union.
The African Union gave us the African Continental Free Commerce Space. It is a giant and integrating market with big potential for fast improvement, if, if, if, we provide it with intermediate and closing items.
And that’s the process of industrialization and financial diversification.
And the duty of this joint assembly is to provide new momentum to our industrialization and financial diversification processes.
What I’m saying is consistent with a few of the factors the Senior Officers are recommending to you, along with the truth that additionally they contact on the seven clusters of AIDA.
I’ll briefly contact on 5 of the important thing factors of the Senior Officers.
First, the Senior Officers, who labored and good on the paperwork earlier than you, noticed that industrialization is vital to accelerating financial diversification and supporting sturdy and resilient progress.
With this in in thoughts, the rising consensus amongst Senior Official is that productive transformation in strategic sectors of agriculture, business and companies is a sustainable path to advertise inclusive progress and sustainable improvement and, within the course of, create high quality jobs wanted by Africa’s rising and youthful inhabitants.
Second, the Senior Officers noticed that for Africa’s industrialization and financial diversification to take root and develop with dynamism, there may be want for transformational and developmental management.
The function of African leaders is crucial in guaranteeing that we attain the imaginative and prescient of constructing resilient establishments, growing high quality infrastructure and placing collectively the human, pure and monetary sources wanted for inclusive sustainable industrialization.
On this respect, there may be want to indicate higher dedication on industrialization and financial diversification by creating extra alternatives for productiveness and income technology.
Moreover, there may be have to construct establishments and implement the fitting insurance policies that create enabling enterprise atmosphere for the formalization of the non-public sector in addition to enhancing industrial coverage coherence essential for efficient implementation of business improvement programmes and tasks by means of acceptable monitoring and analysis of outcomes.
As a response to those wants, the African Union Fee proposes the designation of an AU Champion on Industrialization and Productive Transformation who will present political management, increase consciousness and guarantee efficient implementation of Africa’s industrial improvement.
We will collaborate with the United Nations Industrial Improvement Group to facilitate the work of the Champion.
Third, the Senior Officers additionally noticed that Infrastructure and vitality are important to industrialization.
On this respect, the Senior Official highlighted the dangerous state of Africa’s electrical energy, water, street and data and communications expertise (ICT).
The infrastructure deficits highlighted within the previous paragraph impose excessive prices on industries by decreasing competitiveness, which in flip restricts entry to native and worldwide markets.
Presently, Africa faces an enormous infrastructure hole, with solely 4 p.c of the Continent’s Gross Home Product (GDP) allotted to infrastructure improvement yearly. That is little or no in comparison with 14 p.c in China.
From the foregoing, it’s clear that bridging the infrastructure hole is important to unlocking Africa’s industrialization potential, which, if exploited, can improve GDP progress by an estimated 2 share factors yearly.
Fourth, the Senior Officers noticed the necessity for acceptable financing mechanisms to assist Africa’s industrialization.
The Senior Official famous that financing of Africa’s industrialization and financial diversification needs to be more and more primarily based on home public and African non-public sector sources. For that to occur, there may be have to discover untapped monetary approaches and mechanisms.
Along with conventional home sources of finance resembling taxes and levies and personal financial savings, Africa must undertake a broader and extra diversified set of devices and mechanisms in addition to monetary merchandise, and create an enabling atmosphere for mobilizing sources from non-traditional sources.
Contemporary approaches to industrial improvement financing revolve round sovereign wealth funds (SWFs), pension funds, insurance coverage financial savings, non-public fairness funds, diaspora and sovereign bonds, remittances, public-private partnerships (PPPs), rising inexperienced financing in addition to the curtailment of illicit monetary flows from Africa.
On this connection, there may be have to develop a continental financing platform that helps industrialization and financial diversification. Senior Officers tasked the African Union Fee to work intently with monetary establishments to determine a continental financing platform to make sure coordination within the assortment and channelling of sources to industrialization.
As will likely be recalled, my earlier name was for a collective strategy.
Fifth, the Senior Officers name for constructing a stronger partnership with the non-public sector to speed up Africa’s industrialization by means of creation of an enabling enterprise atmosphere.
On the degree of the African Union, we’ve labored with the African non-public sector to create the African Enterprise Council and Pan African Producers Affiliation.
As I am going in direction of concluding my assertion, let me say that as you take into account the observations and suggestion of Senior Officers, we should always all bear in mind that that is the start of an extended and arduous journey.
We’re sure to face many pitfalls and encounter a lot of obstacles on this journey to industrialization and financial diversification.
However the actuality earlier than us, identical to our moms and dads confronted actuality when struggling for freedom, failure shouldn’t be an possibility.
With this spirit, allow us to give life and dynamism to Africa’s inclusive and sustainable industrialization by means of pragmatic interventions that yield measurable and tangible outcomes of innovation, competitiveness, output, worth addition, employment and, amongst others and above all, improved livelihoods of strange Africans.
I’ll finish right here and want all of us fruitful deliberations.
I thanks all to your sort consideration.
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