At the African Union Summit on Industrialization and Economic Diversification, African leaders have called for a doubling of efforts to promote industrialization in Africa, which took place between November 20 to 25, 2022 in the capital city of Niger Republic, Niamey.

The Extraordinary Summit of African Union was tagged: “Industrializing Africa: Renewed Commitments towards an inclusive and Sustainable Industrialization and Economic Diversification”. 

During the summit, African leaders including the Presidents of Nigeria Muhammadu Buhari, Rwanda Paul Kagame and Zimbabwe Emmerson Mnangagwa made the call for industrialization in Africa.

The summit also held a discussion on the progress made so far on the African Continental Free Trade Area and adopted a Draft Decision of the Extraordinary Session on the African Continental Free Trade Area and three Operational tools – AfCFTA E-Tariff Book, AfCFTA Rules of Origin Manual and the AfCFTA Guided Trade initiative.

Furthermore, the leaders encouraged increased private sector participation in areas such as agriculture, agro-industry, health, education, infrastructure, and especially energy which is paramount to advancing industry.

With the African continent being the world’s least industrialized, and given the importance of industrialization and economic transformation in Africa, every 20th November is marked as the Africa Industrialization Day.