Dakar — It is time to fast-track Africa's structural transformation and create inclusive growth that will leave no one wallowing in poverty, Director David Mehdi Hamam of the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa (OSAA) said Sunday.

Addressing a high-level meeting organized by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) on "Innovations for infrastructure development and sustainable industrialization", Mr. Hamam said Agenda 2063, the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Third Industrial Development Decade of Africa, are all reviving industrialization and infrastructure development for inclusive growth and sustainable development on the continent.

"It is time to fast-track Africa's structural transformation. As we intend to achieve the aspirations of African people and the world, it is critical to create wealth, income and employment," he said.

"Industrialization through local value-addition and local processing offers great opportunities in this regard, particularly if it allows to build forward and backward linkages."

Mr. Hamam said achieving industrialization requires an enabling environment which includes, among other things, sustainable infrastructure and services in energy, transport, water, sanitation, and information communication technologies. It also requires soft infrastructure such as institutions, adequate skills and technology, as well as peace and stability, he said.

"Poor infrastructure in general has been undermining the competitiveness of African economies and thereby slowing the per capita growth by two percent annually according to the ECA," he told participants as he urged African leaders to take advantage of innovation and technology to ramp-up Africa's industrialization drive.

"It is therefore imperative to fast-track infrastructure development and the implementation of PIDA in Africa in order to foster sustainable industrialization and ultimately leave no one behind," said Mr. Hamam.

He spoke in a session which examined the current status of infrastructure development and sustainable industrialisation in Africa and other developing countries, both of which are enablers for sustainable development in their own right, but whose current state of development could act as a serious drawback to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda.

The session examined how countries can develop policies and implement programmes that can mitigate the various constraints and fast-track the industrialisation process.

In his closing remarks to the meeting, ECA's Stephen Karingi said it is crucial for Africa to allow for ways to support small to medium enterprises that have potential to unlock the continent's industrial potential.

He said some issues to consider include how Africa can build an enabling environment for start-ups to grow; design urban centers of service to support SMEs; work out mechanisms to ensure SMEs do not remain in a permanent state of SMEs and informal sector but rather grow to become large-sized and or formal enterprises and create level playing fields for SMEs in national, regional and international markets.