At the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, UNECA’s Claver Gatete delivered a stark warning to African foreign ministers. Amid ‘deep economic transformations’ globally – sluggish growth, trade frictions, and supply chain overhauls – Africa must overhaul its development model.
Gatete painted a picture of a new world order driven by industrial policies, geopolitical rivalries, and resource dominance. ‘Development rules are shifting dramatically,’ he said, noting surging capital costs, shrinking aid, insecurity, and climate crises intensifying the pressures.
The old paradigm of raw export dependency and imported manufactures is obsolete. ‘Africa cannot hinge its growth on outside factors alone. We need to build around our continental economic framework,’ Gatete declared.
His roadmap includes smarter financing mobilization, infrastructure investments linking production, AfCFTA-powered regional value chains for value addition, stronger market unity, and treating tech and data as core infrastructure.
This comes during the 48th AU Executive Council meeting under the 39th Summit, themed around water and sanitation for Agenda 2063. Foreign ministers are key players in turning these ideas into policy.
Gatete’s address underscores a pivotal moment: Africa stands at a crossroads, where embracing internal strengths could shield it from global storms and unlock enduring growth. The continent’s leaders have a blueprint; implementation will test their resolve.