African nations have been urged to urgently mobilise financing for industrialisation amid global shifts towards subsidies and strategic state intervention in trade and industrial policy.
Speakers at the opening of the 2026 Africa Trade Summit in Accra said the resurgence of aggressive industrial policy worldwide presented both risks and opportunities for Africa, particularly under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Mrs Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, Minister for Trade and Agribusiness, said global industrial policy had undergone a structural shift since 2020, with advanced and emerging economies deploying large-scale subsidies to strengthen supply chains, national security and strategic autonomy.
Quoting the International Monetary Fund’s Industrial Policy Observatory, she said more than 33,000 industrial policy interventions were implemented globally between 2009 and 2023, with subsidies emerging as the dominant instrument.
“The question for Africa is not whether to pursue industrial policy, but how to finance it effectively in a constrained fiscal environment and an increasingly protectionist global system,” the Minister said.
She said Ghana had adopted focused, sector-specific industrial policies aimed at building competitive value chains in garments and textiles, automotive components and pharmaceuticals, rather than dispersing limited resources across multiple sectors.
Mrs Ofosu-Adjare said the garment and textile strategy leveraged high-quality cotton produced in the sub-region, while the automotive policy sought to move beyond vehicle assembly to component manufacturing, particularly as the global industry transitioned to electric vehicles.
On pharmaceuticals, she said Africa’s heavy reliance on imports posed economic and health security risks, noting that the continent currently imported more than 70 per cent of its pharmaceutical needs.
Sir Sam Jonah, Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Africa Trade Chamber, urged African countries to adopt a deliberate inward-looking approach to industrialisation, warning that failure to capture value locally would deepen dependency.
He said AfCFTA must move from aspiration to implementation, stressing that industrialisation was essential to building resilience against global shocks.
Madam Fatou Haidara, Deputy Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), said AfCFTA would not deliver its full benefits without industrial production, describing the agreement as both a trade and industrial framework.
She said Africa must transition from exporting raw commodities to producing value-added goods through integrated regional value chains, supported by energy, infrastructure, investment and finance.
Madam Benedicta Lasi, Executive Chair of the African Trade Chamber, said Africa’s persistent industrial gaps stemmed from how production, capital and policy had been structured over decades.
She said the Africa Trade Summit was designed to address those structural challenges and mobilise coordinated action among governments, the private sector and development partners.
The two-day Summit, organised by the African Trade Chamber and its partners, has brought together policymakers, business leaders, investors and development partners to advance intra-African trade, industrialisation and AfCFTA implementation.
Source: GNA
