The acting executive secretary of the ECA, Antonio Pedro, urged African countries to align their education systems with the needs of the market and society, during his speech at the 43rd Ordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Development Community of Southern Africa in Luanda, Angola. He also affirmed that Africa must boost investment in human and financial capital to boost its sustainable industrialization and economic growth.

He considered that governments must invest in science, technology and innovation to move away from the model of resource extraction that characterizes most mineral-rich countries in Africa, and scale up value chains to avoid the middle income trap.

In his opinion, the impact of the global crises of conflict, climate, food and energy crises, as well as the increase in tensions, demand a strong continental position within the global geopolitical economy.

The official called on African leaders to establish an ecosystem for transformative change and leadership that brings together the government, the private sector and other stakeholders in quality dialogues and co-creation of local solutions.

He urged going beyond aid and expanding financing to improve productive capacities, by mobilizing more internal resources through pension funds that are attracted by bankable projects.

The acting executive secretary of the ECA recalled that carbon credit markets can support industrialization in Africa; at $120 per ton of carbon dioxide sequestered, Africa can generate $82 billion a year, more than the continent receives from Overseas Development Assistance, he said.

jrr/llp/npg/nmr