ADDIS ABABA, March 31 (Xinhua) \u2014 China\u2019s successful experience and technological advancements serve as an instructive model for driving Africa\u2019s agricultural modernization ambitions through robust industrialization, energy development, and human capital enhancement, a United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) official has said.<\/p>\n
Dejene Tezera, director of the Agribusiness and Infrastructure Development Division at UNIDO, told Xinhua recently that China possesses the knowledge, technology, and relevant resources to support Africa\u2019s sustainable development through cooperation in agriculture, industry, energy, capacity building, and digitalization.<\/p>\n
The China-Africa-UNIDO Center of Excellence, launched in November 2024 in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, is a practical platform for advancing Africa\u2019s sustainable development by promoting industrialization, agricultural modernization, and skills development, Tezera said.\u201dAfrica faces many development challenges, the most critical of which are low levels of industrialization, agricultural productivity, and a shortage of skilled human resources,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Despite Africa\u2019s vast uncultivated arable land, abundant water resources, and a highly trainable young population offering \u201chuge potential\u201d for its agricultural sector, productivity remains low compared to other regions. To accelerate Africa\u2019s pursuit of agricultural modernization and improved productivity, the UN official underscored the urgent need for coordinated efforts.<\/p>\n
Describing the center of excellence as a testament to thriving South-South cooperation, Tezera said China contributes its knowledge, technology and resources into the successful collaboration, while Ethiopia provides facilities and a supportive ecosystem for implementation, and UNIDO acts as the bridge ensuring technical assistance and coordination.<\/p>\n
He said the tripartite initiative aims to help African countries shift from a demand-based agricultural production approach to a more commercialized production system through modernization.\u201dThere is a very high potential to boost Africa\u2019s agricultural productivity if the right technologies, knowledge, and skills are made available to African farmers. China has undergone similar agricultural development, and we aim to leverage best practices from China to expedite Africa\u2019s agricultural modernization through targeted technology transfer endeavors,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Highlighting the industry sector\u2019s \u201cvery low contribution\u201d to the economy of many African countries, Tezera said that China\u2019s industrialization experience could provide the necessary impetus for Africa\u2019s industrialization efforts.\u201dChina\u2019s industrialization journey, especially following the country\u2019s opening up, has involved the development of industrial parks and zones, which can serve as an excellent approach to accelerate Africa\u2019s industrialization. By transferring best practices from China, Africa can leapfrog into a modern agricultural system and subsequently into industrialization,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Tezera also emphasized the role of the energy sector in achieving Africa\u2019s agricultural modernization goals. He said that China\u2019s \u201cextensive experience\u201d in renewable energy development, including solar, wind and hydropower, can be tailored to meet Africa\u2019s specific energy needs.\u201dAll of these technologies will be systematically adapted in a step-by-step manner through the center of excellence, which will engage with numerous African countries based on their specific contexts and needs,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
He said that the center of excellence, initially focusing on Ethiopia, aims to establish satellite centers across various African countries, thereby making a contribution to the continent\u2019s sustainable development.<\/p>\n
Tezera also underscored the existing China-Africa cooperation frameworks, such as the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and the Belt and Road Initiative. \u201cChina is providing substantial financial resources to support African countries based on their needs, which facilitates the transfer of more practical and appropriate technologies from China to the African continent,\u201d he said.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ADDIS ABABA, March 31 (Xinhua) \u2014 China\u2019s successful experience and technological advancements serve as an instructive model for driving Africa\u2019s agricultural modernization ambitions through robust industrialization, energy development, and human capital enhancement, a United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) official has said. Dejene Tezera, director of the Agribusiness and Infrastructure Development Division at UNIDO, told […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-112775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112775\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}