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Two women working at an engineering company
Two former students of the Zambian Industrial Training Academy, established with the support of Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵIDO and other partners, work today at an engineering company.
Photo:Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵIDO

Industrialization for Development

Industrial development is of critical importance for sustained and inclusive economic growth in African countries. Industry can enhance productivity, increase the capabilities of the workforce, and generate employment, by introducing new equipment and new techniques. Industrialization, with strong linkages to domestic economies, will help African countries achieve high growth rates, diversify their economies and reduce their exposure to external shocks. This will substantially contribute to poverty eradication through employment and wealth creation.

In July 1989, the Organization of African Unity (O.A.U.) conducted its 25th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Africa Industrialization Day was announced on November 20 during this session. Within the framework of the Second Industrial Development Decade for Africa (1991-2000), the United Nations General Assembly, in December 1989, proclaimed 20 November ¡°Africa Industrialization Day¡± (). Since then, the United Nations System has held events on that day throughout the world to raise awareness about the importance of Africa¡¯s industrialization and the challenges faced by the continent.

 

Africa Industrialization Week 2026

 

Since 2018, Africa Industrialization Day has been commemorated with weeklong events. This year, Africa Industrialization Week will be held in Lusaka, Zambia, from 17¨C20 November 2026, under the theme ¡°Financing Industrialization for Inclusive and Sustainable Development.¡± The theme highlights the critical role of financing in driving Africa¡¯s structural transformation, expanding manufacturing capacity, and ensuring that the benefits of industrialization are broadly shared across the continent.

Held on the margins of Africa Industrialization Week, the 5th Edition of the African Women in Processing Forum (AWIP) will provide dedicated platform to empower women-led enterprises, strengthen value chain participation, and catalyse partnerships and investment opportunities across the continent.

 

Agenda 2063:

, adopted in January 2015 by the Heads of States and Governments of the African Union in Addis Ababa, is Africa¡¯s blueprint and master plan for transforming Africa into the global powerhouse of the future.

Based on , it is the continent¡¯s strategic framework that aims to deliver on its goal for inclusive and sustainable development ?and is a concrete manifestation of the pan-African drive for unity, self-determination, freedom, progress and collective prosperity pursued under Pan-Africanism and African Renaissance.

The need to envision a long-term 50-year development trajectory for Africa is important as Africa needs to revise and adapt its development agenda due to ongoing structural transformations to ensure inclusive growth, sustainable development, political unity, and respect for democracy and human rights.

Agenda 2063 and the SDGs are intertwined as the two programmes aims at a more sustainable common future on a healthy planet.

 

Publications

Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵCTAD

Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Economic Commission for Africa

Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵIDO

World Bank

 

Additional links

 

The  examines how African economies can strengthen resilience to trade risks caused by interconnected shocks across political, economic, energy, technological and climate fronts. The report calls for stronger intra-African trade, strategic investments in transport and technology infrastructure, bolder economic reforms and better use of innovative financial tools. The report also provides a blueprint to reduce dependence on external markets, expand regional trade networks and leverage the continent¡¯s young population, abundant resources and growing markets to unlock the $3.4 trillion potential of the African Continental Free Trade Area.

On 20 May 2026, the United Nations General Assembly , reaffirming a global commitment to accelerate Africa's industrial transformation through partnerships, investment, regional integration, and innovation. As the lead United Nations agency for industrial development, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵIDO will support the implementation of the Decade, building on the Action Plan for the Accelerated Industrialization Development of Africa (AIDA) and in synergy with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

an abstract illustration of people engaged in an event

International days and weeks are occasions to educate the public on issues of concern, to mobilize political will and resources to address global problems, and to celebrate and reinforce achievements of humanity. The existence of international days predates the establishment of the United Nations, but the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ has embraced them as a powerful advocacy tool. We also mark other Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ observances.