A rallying call for upskilling towards sustainable growth in Central Africa

Abstract

A virtual meeting of the 36th Intergovernmental Committee of Senior Officials and Experts (ICE) for Central Africa kicked off with focus on strategies to enhance skills to accelerate economic diversification in the Central African sub region. The virtual event also serves as a unique opportunity for experts to emphasize the need for Central African countries to capitalize on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to immediately change their productive system from rents-collection through the exploitation and sale of raw materials, to considerable value addition through tech based and digitally enhanced manufacturing, knowledge production and high-end services, based on a paradigm shift of skills building in the productive sectors such as Science, Technology Engineering and Mathematics as well as Innovation.