Industrial development is best means to meet African crisis

Speeding industrialization in Africa is the best means to face the crisis in the continent, said Moroccan minister of industry, trade and handicraft, Alami Tazi, on the occasion of the African industrialization day on November 20.

The minister said only industrialization will increase the productivity if agriculture, improve food security and develop employment. He added that African countries should seek new finance sources, mainly by creating conditions to attract foreign direct investments which are still below the development needs in the continent.

He went on that since its proclamation in Harare (Zimbabwe) in 1989, the commemoration of the African industrialization day is an opportunity to assess efforts by each country and in the continent at large for the promotion of industry.

For Tazi, the weak economic performance in the continent are the result of a poor industrial competitiveness and the secondary role of industry in the African continent economy based on agriculture. He noted that manufacturing activities are still concentrated in primary processing of raw agriculture and mining products.