High level meeting for implementation of IDDA III

UNIDO Director General LI Yong will introduce the event, followed by a key message of the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Ms. Amina J. Mohammed.

To further foster the implementation of the Third Industrial Development Decade for Africa (IDDA III), a high-level event will be held in New York on the margins of the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Placed under the theme "Enhancing global partnerships for IDDA III – Key for successful implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)", the event is organized by UNIDO together with the African Union Commission (AUC), the African Development Bank (AfDB), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

UNIDO Director General LI Yong will introduce the event, followed by a key message of the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Ms. Amina J. Mohammed.

Interactive discussions will be held around two themes: "Ushering in a new era of intra-African trade: Challenges and opportunities for African industrial growth" and "Streng­thening the involvement of the international community in African industrialization following the launch of the AfCFTA".

The interventions will focus on how inclusive and sustainable industrial development and the IDDA III initiative can support the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area through enhanced competitiveness at the industry and enterprise level, while providing a platform to reflect on innovative ways of leveraging global partnerships and mobilizing financial and non-financial resources for trade capacity building in Africa.

The high-level event is expected to bring together more than 100 high-level stakeholders, including Heads of States and high-level government representatives, representatives of the Regional Economic Communities (RECs), development financing institutions, UN agencies, bilateral partners, the private sector, NGOs and academia.

Key communication messages:

1. In the next few decades, Africa will become the youngest and most populous continent in the world with a working-age population expected to grow by 450 million people – around 70 percent – by 2035.
2. Job creation in Africa has not kept pace with the growing workforce, and the rural population, the urban poor, women, and youth have not yet benefited from economic growth. Africa has a great opportunity to reduce poverty and inequality and create jobs for young people.
3. The AfCFTA provides a chance for African countries to move away from resource-dependence and transform into dynamically diversified economies and competitive industrial production locations.
4. AfCFTA has the potential to be the world's largest free trade area with a market covering 1.2 billion people and a combined GDP of over USD 2.5 trillion.
5. Intra-African trade as a share of total African trade was 15.3 percent in 2015, whereas, for example, trade among developing economies in Eastern Asia as a share of the total was 32.1 percent. Eliminating import duties can boost intra-African trade by an estimated 53.2 percent by 2020, which could also be doubled if non-tariff barriers are reduced.
6. Following the launch of the AfCFTA, Africa's industrial development will depend on effective Governments, investors, the United Nations family, development finance institutions, the private sector and civil society must redouble efforts to work together for Africa's industrialization.
7. The Programme for Country Partnership (PCP) is a multi-stakeholder partnership modeled by the respective governments and aligned with their own development agenda, synchronizing development efforts and interventions by governments and partners, and mobilizes large-scale resources to accelerate industrialization and achieve greater development impact.
8. UNIDO has developed a comprehensive programme to help developing countries and economies in transition to overcome the shortcomings of their standards and conformity infrastructure.

During today's #IDDA3 event, heads of state were announced to become IDDA III Champions; to actively promote the role of inclusive and sustainable 🌿industrial development and to increase the awareness of the initiative on the national, regional and 🌍level! #SDG9 #UNGA pic.twitter.com/YqhtKi1l9O

— UNIDO (@UNIDO) September 26, 2018