Remarks	  made	  by	  H.E.	  Mr.	  ESTIFANOS	  Afeworki,	  Ambassador	  of	  the	  State	  of	  Eritrea	   to	   Japan	   and	   Dean	   of	   The	   African	   Diplomatic	   Corps	   (ADC)	   on	   the	  Side	   Event	   –	   the	   6th	   Tokyo	   International	   Conference	   on	   African	  Development	   (TICAD	   VI)	   “Technology	   Enabling	   Innovation	   and	  Industrialization	   in	   Africa”	   Seminar organized	   by	   Ministry	   of	   Economy,	  Trade	  and	  Industry	  (METI),	  Tokyo	  (UNIDO	  ITPO	  Tokyo),	  Overseas	  Human	  Resources	   and	   Industry	   Development	   Association	   (HIDA),	   Japan	  Productivity	   Center	   (JPC),	   Supported	   by	   New	   Energy	   and	   Technology	  Development	  Organization	  (NEDO),	  and	  Japan	  External	  Trade	  Organization	  (JETRO)	  Saturday,	  27	  August	  2016	  Nairobi,	  Kenya:	  	  	  Honorable	  participants,	  	  First	   of	   all	   let	   me	   thank	   UNIDO	   for	   giving	   me	   an	   opportunity	   to	   make	   a	   closing	  remark	  in	  this	  important	  side	  event	  of	  TICAD	  VI	  dealing	  with	  the	  subject	  matter	  of	   “Technology	   Enabling	   Innovation	   and	   Industrialization	   in	   Africa”.	   I	   would	   also	  like	   to	   cease	   this	   opportunity	   to	   express	   my	   thanks	   and	   gratitude	   to	   all	   the	  previous	   speakers	   and	   presenters	   in	   this	   important	   event	   of	   today.	   	   They	   have	  addressed	   key	   issues	   concerning	   collaboration	   between	   Japan	   and	   African	  countries	   on	   the	   main	   pillar	   of	   TICAD	   VI	   agenda	   i.e.	   the	   industrialization	   in	  Africa.	  	  	  	  	  Following	   the	   agrarian	   one,	   as	   we	   all	   know,	   one	   of	   the	   major	   turning	   points	   of	  human	   history	   was	   the	   industrial	   revolution	   of	   the	   19th	   century	   which	   had	   its	  epicenter	  in	  Europe.	  Economic	  growth	  was	  marked	  with	  exponential	  changes	  in	  the	   living	   standards	   of	   the	   global	   population	   during	   this	   period.	   But	   as	   we	   all	  know,	  the	  spillover	  effect	  of	  this	  growth	  was	  colonialism	  and	  resource	  scramble	  in	   Africa.	   Industrialization	   in	   the	   continent	   of	   Africa	   was	   seen	   as	   a	   secondary	  issue.	  It	  can	  be	  briefly	  mentioned	  here,	  that	  this	  period	  was	  a	  missed	  opportunity	  for	   the	   African	   population.	   Those	   small-­‐scale	   industries	   established	   in	   capitals	  and	   seaports	   of	   the	   African	   countries	   were	   limited	   to	   producing	   basic	   human	  needs	  to	  the	  colonizers	  and	  local	  laborers.	  Power	  and	  other	  utilities	  being	  very	  limited,	   the	   economic	   implications	   of	   industrialization	   in	   many	   parts	   of	   Africa	  were	   insignificant	   or	   daunting	   low	   during	   the	   independence	   period	   of	   many	  countries.	  Postcolonial	  Africa	  has	  also	  been	  limited	  to	  targeting	  universal	  access	  to	   energy	   service	   as	   a	   challenge.	   Though	   this	   is	   an	   important	   step	   in	   an	   inclusive	  sustainable	   development,	   the	   industrialization	   level	   of	   African	   countries	   still	  remains	   very	   low.	   It	   shall	   require	   more	   inputs	   of	   infrastructural	   developments	  than	  the	  existing	  one	  to	  achieve	  a	  success	  story.	  All	  the	  needs	  and	  requirements	  of	  a	  national	  or	  regional	  mandate	  and	  related	  human	  and	  financial	  resources	  to	  achieve	  it	  must	  be	  promoted.	  On	  many	  instances,	  new	  enabling	  innovations	  and	  industrialization	   that	   current	   globalization	   is	   availing	   to	   Africa	   gives	   the	  continent	   the	   benefit	   to	   start	   and	   leap	   frog	   with	   a	   leading-­‐edge	   technologies	   to	   a	  new	  paradigm	  of	  industrial	  scale.	  	  	  For	  this	  to	  happen,	  Africa’s	  industrial	  progress	  requires	  competitive	  production	  capacity,	   in	   addition	   to	   a	   better	   market	   access	   and	   a	   welcoming	   domestic	  regulatory	   framework	   and	   environment.	   All	   aspects	   of	   quality	   production,	  	  1	  packing,	   efficient	   transportation	   and	   market	   access	   within	   and	   outside	   of	   the	  continent	  must	  be	  addressed.	  	  Many	  African	  countries	  used	  to	  export	  food	  during	  the	  1960s.	  The	  average	  GDP	  per	   capita	   of	   African	   countries	   was	   higher	   than	   Asian	   countries	   from	   1960s	   to	  the	  mid	  1970S.	  Many	  African	  countries	  are	  importing	  food;	  and	  GDP	  per	  capita	  of	  countries	  in	  Africa	  is	  far	  lower	  than	  in	  Asia	  in	  2016.	  Developing	  Asian	  countries	  and	   Brazil,	   Russia,	   India,	   China	   and	   South	   Africa	   (BRICS)	   gained	   importance	   as	  recipients	   of	   FDI	   in	   the	   last	   two	   decades.	   The	   flow	   of	   FDI	   share	   of	   African	  countries	   did	   not	   grow	   but	   gradually	   fell	   during	   the	   same	   period.	   Even	   though,	  this	   trend	   has	   recovered	   slightly	   in	   the	   past	   few	   years,	   the	   current	   FDI	   growth	   in	  Africa	   seems	   to	   be	   led	   by	   a	   few	   specific	   industries	   i.e.	   oil	   and	   gas,	   utilities	   (e.g.	  
telecommunications,	  energies),	  banking	  and	  real	  estate	  (land).	  	  In	  Africa,	  rising	  corporate	  profits	  and	  high	  commodity	  prices	  have	  helped	  boost	  inflows	  to	  a	  historic	  high	  but	  recently	  decline	  in	  world	  market	  price	  are	  affecting	  this	   trend	   negatively.	   Besides,	   FDI	   inflows	   to	   Africa	   are	   tilted	   towards	   primary	  production	  (as	  I	  mentioned	  mainly	  in	  oil,	  gas	  and	  minerals),	  although	  significant	  increase	  has	  occurred	  in	  the	  service	  sector	  particularly	  in	  banking.	  There	  is	  surge	  of	  interest	  for	  rare	  metals,	  precious	  metals,	  base	  metals	  and	  industrial	  minerals	  too.	   Manufacturing	   activities	   did	   not	   feature	   prominently	   in	   FDI	   inflows	   into	  Africa	   in	   the	   past	   decade	   until	   a	   recent	   surge	   from	   China,	   which	   is	   primarily	  targeting	  the	  big	  markets	  in	  East	  and	  West	  Africa.	  	  Prospects	  for	  growth	  of	  FDI	  inflows	   into	   Africa	   from	   Japan	   are	   currently	   positive.	   The	   regional	   picture,	  however,	  is	  not	  uniformly	  upbeat	  across	  sectors,	  countries	  and	  sub	  regions.	  	  	  Therefore,	  in	  view	  of	  its	  short	  and	  long-­‐term	  interest,	  African	  countries	  need	  to	  examine	  very	  carefully	  and	  commit	  to	  the	  need	  of	  making	  an	  expanded	  industrial	  revolution	   in	   the	   continent	   happen.	   Late	   is	   reasonable	   but	   absence	   is	  unforgivable.	   Collaboration	   for	   industrial	   development	   through	   the	   technical	  cooperation	   provided	   through	   the	   TICAD	   process	   from	   Japan	   can	   be	   one	   of	   the	  available	   good	   tools	   to	   reach	   that	   goal.	   Obviously,	   success	   stories	   of	   the	  economies	   of	   Asia	   and	   Africa	   are	   a	   beacon	   of	   hope	   for	   the	   road	   maps	   of	   new	  countries	   like	   my	   country	   Eritrea	   to	   emulate	   and	   likewise	   the	   failure	   stories	   of	  many	   are	   also	   a	   hazard	   to	   avoid.	   UNIDO	   and	   other	   partners	   committed	   to	   this	  endeavors	   can	   play	   a	   great	   role	   by	   sharing	   their	   good	   practices	   and	   resources	  towards	  this	  goal.	  	  Thank	  you	  	  	  	  2