H.E. PRESIDENT KIKWETE TO OPEN WORKSHOP

Better post-primary education and research, new benchmarks for African competitiveness, increased access to sustainable energy, support to young entrepreneurs, and finance for small and medium sized enterprises. These five concrete initiatives are on the table during the up-coming Africa Commission workshop, staged in Dar es Salaam on 30-31 March.

The workshop, organized jointly by the Africa Commission, the African Development Bank, and the Government of Tanzania, will feature representatives from key development organizations, youth organizations, the private sector, universities and government officials. The workshop will be opened by the President of Tanzania and two other members of the Africa Commission; Ms. Betty Maina, Executive Director of the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) and Mr. Christian Friis-Bach, International Director of DanChurchAid.

The aim of the Commission, launched in April last year by the Danish Government, is to come up with concrete initiatives that can foster growth and job creation in Africa. It is the Commission’s ambition is to bring about real change for Africa’s growing number of young people by improving its competitiveness in the global market.

The relevance of the Africa Commission is accentuated by the global financial crisis. The crisis has important implications for African countries and economic growth is predicted to decrease substantially. According to the Commission, it is now more important than ever to create jobs and to strengthen the private sector in Africa.

During the course of the workshop, the participants will discuss and give input to the Commission’s proposed initiatives, explore links to existing programmes and identify potential partnerships.

The Commission will present its recommendations at its final meeting in Copenhagen in May this year.


ABOUT THE INITIATIVES

After a thorough consultation process, the Commission met in Addis Ababa in November, and agreed to further develop a number of concrete initiatives. Specifically, these include:

1. Competitiveness
Improve Africa’s competitive¬ness in the global economy, by increasing the knowledge and promoting national debate about key constraints to competitiveness, including gender inequality, based on good research.

2. Financing investments
Provide small and medium sized enterprises run by women and men access to finance for investments and technical as¬sistance needed for them to grow, expand production and create employment.

3. Entrepreneurship
Give young entrepreneurs opportunities to release their huge potential by helping them turn their innovative ideas into profitable businesses, applying both business develop¬ment services and finance.

4. Education and research
First, give young African women and men out of school a second chance by up-grading existing apprenticeships and developing demand driven technical and vocational training in underserved rural communities. Second, link university education, research and private sector development in agricul¬ture to increase the business skills of graduates and promote innovation in agriculture and agro-business.


5. Sustainable energy
Exploit the huge potentials for sustainable modern energy in local communities far from the national grid. This will be achieved by developing markets, where small and medium sized enterprises can invest in production and distribution of energy to the benefit of local businesses and households, especially women.