Addis Ababa, 19 November 2019 – The Joint Secretariat Support Office (JSSO) launched the Thematic Working Group (TWG) on Investment, Trade and Industrialisation on the margins of the Africa Industrialisation Week. The official launching of the working group was officiated by Ambassador Albert Muchanga, Commissioner, Trade and Industry, African Union Commission.
The launching of the TWG was led by a panel discussion where officials of the Joint Secretariat Institutions (AUC/ECA/AfDB) acknowledged the continued relevance and potential of JSSO as a platform for strengthening strategic partnership between them. They also emphasized that advancing partnership among the three was critical in order to leverage on their respective comparative advantages.
During the event, a number of pertinent issues were raised for the technical working group. Participants noted that if Africa is to meet Agenda 2063 it must prioritize key areas including addressing trade facilitation issues, productive capacity, corruption, trade policy coherence, infrastructure, mobilising support for African private sector and institutions with a view to chart inclusive industrialisation.
The JSSO Director complimented the thematic working group as an excellent mechanism for ensuring complementarity and building synergies among these institutions. The TWGs will serve as a platform for collaboration and framework for joint planning, sharing of information and coordinating stakeholders, as well as monitoring and evaluating implementation.
The Director noted that in February 2019, the heads of the three institutions pledged to revitalise the JSSO. The new institutional arrangement will engage more intensely with key Pan-African stakeholders (including the Regional Economic Communities, the private sector, academia, think thanks, and civil society) to inform and weigh in on topical development issues in Africa.
In his remarks, the Commissioner reiterated that the TWG on Investment Trade and Industrialisation was critical and a key mandate of the working group should be on the implementation of priority initiatives of the three partners. In the face of the African Union Agenda 2063 and other continental programmes, the TWG should place emphasis on mobilizing investors from Africa and abroad, understand the need of the private sector and be cognizant of the critical issues that will help to ensure the success of AfCFTA. He pleaded to the experts to ensure that Africa benefits from the Fourth Industrial Revolution and encouraged that our collective focus be on tangible deliverables. The Commissioner stated that it was his privilege to launch the working group and inspired JSSO to achieve results that we can be proud of this time next year.
Jointly issued by the African Union Commission, Economic Commission for Africa, the African Development Bank.