ADDIS ABABA: Africa needs to pursue comprehensive regional trade policies as an instrument of development and transformation, said Ethiopia's Industry Minister Mekonnen Manyazewal. In his opening remark at the Africa Forum 2012 on Monday in Addis Ababa, Manyazewal said Africa should move forward from trading mainly in primary products and manufacturing products through mobilizing national investors and attracting foreign direct investment (FDI). “The continent had to learn and take concrete actions to add value to its raw materials and resources through industrial development,” said Mekonnen. He also stressed that “investing in infrastructure to attract FDI and domestic investments and increase the range and volume of products could not be realized without proper infrastructure.” African Union (AU) Commission Deputy Chairman Erastus Mwencha said Africa needed to develop structures for the implementation of the approved architecture at the national, regional and continental level for it to move forward. He said there was a need for Africa's Regional Economic Communities (RECs) to present Action Plans which could contribute towards the Road Map establishing the continental free trade area (CFTA) by 2017. The forum will discuss ways of enhancing productive capacities and the improvement of industrial performance, among others. It will also discuss the improvement of industrial performance in Africa while it looks at ways of enhancing trade facilitation.
