The African Economic Conference is underway with the theme: “Knowledge and Innovation for Africa’s Transformation’ at United Nations Conference Hall here.
The conference is co-organized by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), with overriding objective of bringing together experienced and young researchers as well as policy makers to dialogue on diverse issues of Africa’s transformation.
In his opening remark, United Nations Under Secretary General and Executive Secretary of ECA, Carlos Lopes said that the innovations bode well for the future; however, supplemental work is still required to speed up the pace of creation as well as the absorption rate of new technologies and spread it to all sectors of the economies.
“We can actually be net beneficiaries of this focus on the role of information, technology and learning as a determinant of economic performance. We can leapfrog; we can offer frugal innovation,” said Lopes.
He further reiterated that technology has important implications for our ability to identify and exploit opportunities to transform economies and for employment of growing young population.
“In today’s knowledge-driven global economy, innovation and technology-oriented education is vital for sustained economic performance and competitiveness. In practical terms, innovation and technology-oriented education gives our youth critical building blocks to secure their future,” he noted.
Africa Union Commission Chairperson Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma on her part stressed that skills, technology, knowledge and innovation are critical to all areas of African transformation – from the modernization of agriculture to having resilient and effective public health systems in order to fight disease, as everyone sees Ebola today.
“These issues are critical to our Agenda 2063, the fifty-year vision of the Africa we want, as well as the common African Position on the post-2015 development agenda,”Zuma said.
UNDP Resident Representative to Ethiopia, Eugene Owusu said to ensure inclusion and enhance resilience as well as sustain development gains, Africa needs and should significantly invest in knowledge and innovation.
“Here in Ethiopia we are using knowledge and innovation to bring about transformation through targeted interventions that are helping unleash the entrepreneurial spirit of Ethiopians, particularly women and youth,” he noted.
The 2014 report on the Millennium Development Goals was also launched yesterday. Various papers with holding diverse continental issues were presented as part of the conference and plenary sessions held.
[TheEthiopianHerald]