CAPE TOWN, May 21 (Xinhua) -- South African Deputy President Paul Mashatile on Thursday called for deeper African integration, faster industrialization and greater African ownership of development as the continent marked 25 years of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).
Speaking at the NEPAD@25 High-Level Business Breakfast in Cape Town, Mashatile said Africa must strengthen intra-African trade, regional value chains and implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area to achieve the goals of the African Union's (AU) Agenda 2063.
The event brought together representatives from government, business and development institutions, including former South African President Thabo Mbeki, one of NEPAD's founding architects.
Launched in 2001, NEPAD was the AU's flagship development framework aimed at promoting economic growth, regional integration and poverty reduction across the continent. In 2018, the AU integrated the NEPAD agency into its development architecture under the name the AU Development Agency-NEPAD (AUDA-NEPAD).
"Today, AUDA-NEPAD functions as the main execution arm of the African Union's Agenda 2063," Mashatile said, adding that the agency promotes "African ownership" and the principle that "Africa's future should be shaped by its own people."
He noted that Africa still faced major gaps in infrastructure, industrial capacity, energy access and digital connectivity, warning that the continent "cannot continue exporting raw materials while importing finished products at a higher value."
"The future of Africa depends on beneficiation, manufacturing, processing, logistics integration, energy cooperation, and digital industrialization," Mashatile said.
He also urged reforms to the global financial system, including fairer representation for developing economies in the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, and financing mechanisms that better reflected the needs of the Global South. ■
