Unlocking Africa’s manufacturing potential

Energy, transport and reforms are strategic priorities for Africa’s industrialisation.

Date: 2025-09-17

Time: 11:00 to 12:00

Venue: Online via Zoom

Africa faces the challenge of premature deindustrialisation, but targeted policy interventions can enable re-industrialisation over the next two decades. This seminar launches key policy recommendations from the African Futures and Innovation programme’s updated Manufacturing theme.

The discussion will present Africa’s current manufacturing landscape, exploring how renewed industrialisation can support structural transformation, job creation, economic growth, government revenue, and improved living standards. This offers a more dynamic alternative to the business-as-usual trajectory.

Read the full report on the state of Africa’s industrialisation.

This event is co-hosted by the ISS and the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD).

Moderator: Mahao Mahao, Advisor, Africa Policy Bridge Tank, AUDA-NEPAD

Presenter: Dr Marvellous Ngundu, Senior Researcher Consultant, African Futures & Innovation, ISS

Panelists:

Freda Yawson, Senior Manager, Infrastructure and Innovation, African Center for Economic Transformation
Alejandro Lapova, Research and Industrial Policy Officer, Industrial Policy Research and Statistics Unit, United Nations Industrial Development Organization