Modernise, diversify and integrate - African regional economies urged

Abstract

It is without doubt that African countries are proud of their economic achievements in the past decade. The blight on this 5-6 percent growth achieved during this time is the absence of transformation of these economies. This growth, though impressive, has not been inclusive and poverty levels have not been reduced. The session, themed ‘Enhancing productive integration for Africa’s structural transformation’, opened today in Addis Ababa and will review and deliberate on developments in specific sectorial areas and make recommendations on regional integration and trade. The ECA has on various occasions, through its reports on regional economies and development, pointed out the significant advantage to be gained from trading within Africa. As Mr. Karingi explained “productive integration means developing and linking regional production and value chains in Africa.”