Our world is currently being shaped by significant changes, from the global COVID-19 pandemic to the recent digital transformations in the context of Industry 4.0. Africa and its major value chains will also need to adapt to the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area. In order to mitigate their effects and ensure they lead to sustainable and inclusive development, quality and standards are more than ever needed.

Besides the negative consequences of COVID-19, the main economic challenges in many African countries include limited competitiveness of enterprises and the need for better value-chain integration at regional and national levels in order to scale-up sustainable structural transformation. To compete in export markets, African countries need to work towards increasing the volume and range of the products they sell and export while complying with the increasingly stringent market requirements on product quality, safety, health and environmental impact. Standardization along the value chain enables reduction in production and transaction costs, increased quality and market opportunities, competitive positioning and an improved management of risks. 

We are glad to offer a multi-stakeholder platform where the international community of quality infrastructure governance bodies and practitioners from African Organizations, the EU and UNIDO will be able to share experiences, discuss best practices, and suggest further steps for strengthened partnerships in this area.

The discussion intends to follow up on the successful International Quality Infrastructure Forum hosted in April 2019 in Brussels which has set the stage for further collaboration. As a side event of the African Industrialization Week 2020, it also aims to recognize UNIDO’s mandate of Inclusive and Sustainable Industrialization as one of the central pillars in attaining the continent’s economic growth and the SDGs.

We look forward to this promising dialogue!

You can register here.

Source: UNIDO