UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has sent an Africa Industrialization Day message urging more effort be made to strengthen industry on the continent, a UN statement said Monday.
"This year's observance of Africa Industrialization Day takes place at a challenging time. We face a global financial crisis. Food and fertilizer prices are significantly higher than they were two years ago. The accelerating impacts of climate change are becoming more apparent," the message said.
"The full impacts of these crises are not yet known, but some of the effects are being felt already and there is a clear risk that recent improvements in social and economic indicators could be eroded or reversed."
The theme of this year's annual Nov. 20 observance, "Processing of Raw Materials for Sustainable Growth and Development," is very timely, said the message, adding that the worldwide economic slowdown will hit exporters of primary products hard.
"Primary products account for more than 50 percent of the value of Africa's exports. This makes the continent especially vulnerable to global economic shocks," the message said. "It is essential for Africa to be able to process its raw materials into higher-value products, both for domestic consumption and for exports.
"Industrialization has led to broad-based development and economic transformation in other parts of the world. It can and must do the same in Africa," the message said.
"On this Africa Industrialization Day, let us pledge to do our utmost to strengthen the African industry so that it can play its rightful, catalytic role in sustainable economic growth and the eradication of poverty," the UN secretary-general said in the message.
Nov. 20 was declared by the UN General Assembly in 1989 to be Africa Industrialization Day.
The day is intended to mobilize the commitment of the international community to the industrialization of Africa. It also serves as a reminder that more than 30 of the world's 48 least developed countries are in Africa.
Source:Xinhua
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