By JUDITH NAMUTOWE in Addis Ababa –

THE Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has launched an Economic Report on Africa (ERA) which dwells on green industrialisation,  to enable sustainable and inclusive development on the continent.
The 2016 report has emphasised the need for African countries Zambia inclusive, to adopt a green pathway towards sustainable and inclusive development to avoid pitfalls made by some developed nations.
ECA deputy executive secretary, Abdalla Hamdok said as a latecomer to industrialisation, Africa should adopt the green pathway towards sustainable and inclusive development to avoid pitfalls and mistakes made by some developed nations.
Mr Hamdok said Africa should define and design its own pathway to industrialisation based on its own realities.
He said it was important that the continent learns from history and experiences of other regions to leap-frog traditional carbon-intensive methods of growth, while championing a low-carbon development trajectory.
Mr Hamdok was speaking when he addressed close to 200 delegates who witnessed the launch of the report titled ‘Greening Africa’s Industrialisation’.
“There is now growing commitment among African countries to pursue inclusive green development. Collective commitment from across the African Union will strengthen the speed and effectiveness of such a strategic shift,” he said.
Mr Hamdok said Africa should take advantage of new innovations, technologies and business models as it optimally and efficiently utilises its natural resources as inputs to an industrialisation process powered by domestic endowments of clean sources of energy.
The ERA was launched on the sidelines of the Africa Development Week celebrations in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Mr Hamdok said in this regard, the ERA 2016 encourages the region to pursue a pathway to green industrialisation that economic growth was sustainable and inclusive through the creation of green jobs and other positive spillovers.
He said a strategy for green industrialisation in its many dimensions, would deliver a more competitive and resource-efficient industrial sector.
Greening industrialisation according to the report which also provides governments with greening policy suggestions provides the impetus for turning current supply chains linking natural resources to markets into value chains that diversify Africa’s economies and ensure greater value addition.