UN stresses need for Africa to diversify economy

New York, 03 Aug – (ANA) - Africa needs to embrace economic diversification as well as focus on agribusiness to lift the continent out of poverty and put it on the path to prosperity, a senior United Nations official has said.

In a statement, Director-General of the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Kandeh  K. Yumkella, said Africa was urbanizing at a fast rate, noting that “in order to turn bright prospects into employment opportunities for its young people, Africa needs to embrace economic diversification.”

Mr. Yumkella’s comments came at the Africa Caucus Meeting in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which brought together Africa’s finance ministers, central bank governors, and representatives of international development agencies and financial institutions and where he was a keynote speaker. The Director-General stressed the need to boost agricultural productivity to achieve sustainable industrial and agribusiness development as a means of wealth and job creation. (ANA)

FA/ANA/03 August 2012--------