25 July 2016: The UN General Assembly (UNGA) proclaimed that the Third Industrial Development Decade for Africa will be from 2016-2025, and called for the advancement of “sustainable industrialization” to reduce poverty and help implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The UNGA unanimously adopted a resolution to this effect, identifying the African Union (AU) Commission, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), and the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) as the main actors responsible. The resolution lays the foundation for UNIDO to develop a programme for the Third Decade, and invites contributions of resources for implementation. The resolution also calls for scaling up technical assistance to African countries, and for enhancing international cooperation for this purpose, including North-South, South-South and triangular cooperation.

African leaders expressed strong support for industralization as a way forward to implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), at a high-level event on 26 September 2015, on ‘Operationalization of the 2030 Agenda for Africa’s Industrialization,’ as reported by UNIDO. A joint communiqué from the high-level event: highlighted Africa’s rapid economic growth since the turn of the millennium; stated that structural transformation of the economy is “the only option” to overcoming poverty in African countries, and must include investments in the training and education of women and youth; and noted that SDG 9 (Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation) recognizes the centrality of inclusive and sustainable industrialization for development.

Previous industrial decades for Africa spanned the 1980s and 1990s. [UN Press Release] [UNIDO High-Level Event]