CAIRO: Ministers of Trade and Industry from across Africa gathered Monday in Cairo for the 18th Conference of African Ministers of Trade (CAMI). The inauguration of the South-South Industrial Cooperation Center, and an Egypt-sponsored scholarship program were announced at a press conference preceding the CAMI meeting. The center, hosted by Egypt, will focus on facilitating the transfer of technology to the African countries and on providing training and assistance to the African workforce with the aim of developing new markets for African products. The scholarship program, which will be funded by the Egyptian government, will bring 500 African students to Egypt to gain technical skills in a variety of fields including textiles, engineering, and quality monitoring standards. "We are proud and happy that Egypt will be contributing to the development of youth capacity across Africa as upgrading the skills of our young people is key to Africa's future, said Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry Rachid Mohamed Rachid. CAMI's goal is to facilitate a program of long-term industrial development in Africa. "We want Africa to become a source of quality in industrial products, not just a source of raw materials, said Rachid. South African Minister of Trade and CAMI chairman Rob Davies described the conference's goals as a phased development of Africa's industrial capacity through 49 projects. "These 49 projects are aimed at developing industrial infrastructure to support success into the future, said Rachid. During phase one, beginning this year and lasting until 2012, member countries will work together to establish the appropriate governance infrastructure for industrial development and to build the skill set of the continent's young workforce. Phase two, from 2012 to 2030, will focus on the intensive development of products and the diversification of industry across Africa. The final phase will see the emergence of competitive industrial sectors across the continent. "The global economic crisis has had an extreme impact on countries participating in the world economy solely as producers of raw materials; the countries less affected are the ones producing value-added products, said Davies. "Our goal is to have Africa emerge as a continent with a strong industrial base to support development, he continued. CAMI's mandate is currently supported by the African Union (AU) and United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), with additional funding to be provided by the African Development Bank and the World Bank. "We are undertaking resource mobilization from different angles; the project will be funded by a composite of sources, said Henry Kosgey, the Kenyan minister of trade and industry. Public private partnerships will also be crucial to the success of the initiative. To this end, CAMI will hold a stakeholders conference in Addis Ababa in October to enhance cooperation between relevant government officials, international organizations and private sector companies. "Our end goal is making Africa an attractive place for investors and business through the implementation of good governance structures and a trained workforce, Kosgey said.
