2018 Africa Industrialization Day (AID)

The Africa Industrialization Day (AID) is observed every year on November 20 to raise global awareness of the challenges faced by the continent with regard to industrialization. The African continent is the second most-populated continent in the world, home to over 1.2 billion people (or 16% of the world’s population). Despite this, Africa currently only accounts for less than 2% of international trade and global manufacturing. In March 2018, 49 of Africa’s 55 countries signed the African Continental Free Trade Agreement meant to create a tariff-free continent that can grow local businesses, boost intra-African trade, rev up industrialization and create jobs.The 2018 theme is “Promoting Regional Value Chains in Africa: A pathway for accelerating Africa’s structural transformation, industrialization and pharmaceutical production”.