UNIDO approach for reducing poverty through sustainable industrial growth in Africa

1. UNIDO approach for reducing poverty through sustainable industrial growth in Africa Special focus on UNIDO’s activities promoted by Italy Rome, 25th of June 2009

2. UNIDO is a specialized agency of the United Nations system that works towards improving the quality of life of the world’s poor by helping countries achieve sustainable industrial development. UNIDO views industrial development as a means of creating employment and income to overcome poverty. UNIDO helps developing countries and economies in transition to produce goods they can trade on the global market. It also helps provide tools, training, technology and investment to make them competitive. At the same time, it encourages production processes that will neither harm the environment nor place too heavy a burden on a country’s limited energy resources. "Friends, together, we can achieve a new phase of globalization - one that creates inclusive and sustainable markets, builds development and enhances international cooperation. We each have a responsibility in moving our agenda forward” Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations TOGETHER WITH UNIDO

3. “UNIDO’s task is to enable African nations to harness their resources in order to speed up their industrial growth and subsequent integration into the world economy. We are convinced that industry, and particularly agro-industries, can play a key role in this process by creating jobs and private wealth”. Kandeh K. Yumkella Director-General of UNIDO (Industrious Africa –September 2008) TOGETHER IN AFRICA

4. In many African countries, UNIDO has helped countries to take the first steps in their transformation from local, small-scale, semi-artisanal producers to competitors on the world market. A major objective of UNIDO is to work in concert with African governments, institutions, CBOs and the private sector to achieve sustainable industrial development. Special attention is given to strengthening productive capacities and promoting the use of renewable and more environmentally-friendly energy. UNIDO and Africa UNIDO’s database includes details of 3,956 completed projects for the African continent as a whole, totaling over $520 million in investment. (Industrious Africa – September 2008)

5. UNIDO has 173 Member States and has it HQs in Vienna, Austria. Our organization is represented by : designated Country or Regional Offices a Network of Investment and Technology Promotion Offices (ITPO) financed by the host Countries National Cleaner Production Centers, established jointly with the United Nations Environment Programme. International Technology Centers Subcontracting Exchanges (SPX) Special Programs/Projects UNIDO NETWORK WORLDWIDE

6. UNIDO NETWORK WORLDWIDE Network of UNIDO ITPOs The UNIDO ITPO Network provides a unique combination of value-added services to client institutions and entrepreneurs from developing countries and countries with economies in transition which want to forge new alliances in international industrial investment and technology transfer: • Disseminates the latest information on legal and economic conditions, investment financing and opportunities for industrial cooperation; Identifies and promotes specific investment opportunities; • Provides expert advice at all stages of the business creation cycle; • Facilitates business contacts between project sponsors and potential foreign investors; • Maintains extensive data banks of companies interested in industrial partnerships in developing and transition economies

7. UNIDO ITPO ITALY In 1987, UNIDO and the Italian Government signed an agreement for the creation in Italy of the INVESTMENT AND TECHNOLOGY PROMOTION OFFICE (ITPO) Italy aimed at supporting industrial cooperation with companies in developing countries, supplying an array of services along the path of investment projects, from the scouting of industrial partners, to the supply of technical assistance to promising industrial projects. The Office is especially active in the host country but also elsewhere, through other UNIDO networks: UNIDO Representatives, other ITPOs, National Cleaner Production Centers, etc. UNIDO ITPO Italy has been involved in industrial cooperation projects in many in development countries: Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Mongolia, Mexico, Senegal, Serbia, Tunisia, Uganda, and Uruguay, among others.

8. UNIDO ITPO Italy Delegates Programme The Delegates Programme is operational in all UNIDO ITPO offices and represents an essential tool in carrying out their activities and imparting knowledge of UNIDO methodologies. Coming from public institutions, banks, or industrial associations of developing countries, the Delegates are hosted for short-term periods at UNIDO ITPOs, where they experience UNIDO methodologies and techniques at first hand. They present to a host country enterprises a portfolio of selected investment opportunities. When delegates return home, they contribute to the creation of an international network of human resources and become an important contact for UNIDO ITPOs and host-country industries.Since 1988, 45 delegates were hosted at UNIDO ITPO Italy, and the African continent was represented by delegates coming from Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Mozambique, Senegal, Tanzania, Tunisia, and Uganda.

9. UNIDO ITPO Italy and Africa In recent years, UNIDO ITPO Italy has enhanced its support to the economic development of Sub-Saharan Africa, a critical area for the creation of economic partnerships and the promotion of foreign investment. It is also a priority region for Italy, the UN System, and UNIDO itself. In 2007/8, the intense joint promotional activities of ITPO Italy and the Delegates from Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Senegal, Tanzania, and Uganda allowed major Italian business institutions to get acquainted with the new African investment climate and orient the interest of their associated companies to a continent offering huge investment opportunities. The promotional work in favor of Ethiopia and Tanzania focused on agribusiness and leather and footwear; and for Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, and Uganda, on food processing. Regarding Senegal, 16 Senegalese SMEs grouped in three export Consortia were assisted by ITPO Italy in the identification of potential industrial/commercial partners in the Italian agribusiness sector. During 2007, UNIDO ITPO Italy, in collaboration with the University of Rome- La Sapienza, started researching on investment of Italian SMEs in Africa, as well as an analysis of investment opportunities and constraints.

10. UNIDO ITPO Italy Projects under Promotion in Sub-Saharan Africa By sector By country

11. Millennium Cities Initiative - UNIDO’s contribution The Millennium Cities Initiative (MCI) is assisting selected mid-sized cities across sub-Saharan Africa in their efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Economic growth required for eradication of poverty and the achievement of the other associated MDGs depends on capital accumulation (investment) and technical change going hand in hand. UNIDO supports the MCI by identifying, together with national counterparts, investment opportunities using its tools and methodologies including the project appraisal and analysis software COMFAR III Expert - www.unido.org/comfar. Promotion of investment opportunities is achieved through UNIDO’s ITPO network.

12. As to sustainability and environmental concerns, UNIDO is collaborating with other members of UN-Energy, the coordinating mechanism for UN system-wide coordination, chaired by UNIDO’s Director General, Kandeh Yumkella, in all issues dealing with energy, from household energy to access to modern, commercial energy for productive purposes. Many ITPO host countries also fund environment programs through the ITPOs. FUTURE UNIDO ITPO NETWORK FOCUS IN AFRICA Environment, Energy, Agribusiness UNIDO, as well as ITPO Italy within their Environment Programs intend also to help African countries and sub-regional groups to access some of the major carbon-finance resources being deployed to arrest climate change, especially in the carbon sinks/sequestration areas where a number of African countries could be major players, in the sequel to Kyoto, namely all those with important forests or reforestation potential (Congo Basin, West-African coastal forests/treecrops plantations, Eastern Southern Savanna countries). Finally, UNIDO further reinforce its focus on Agri-business in Africa and proposes to collaborate with the NEPAD on matters of joint concern.

13. Value Chains (National/Regional/Global) Multi ITPO coordinated intervention in one country/region Renewable Energy Initiatives Localities Initiatives (MCI and others) Supply Chains Pilot projects/Innovative business models Upgrading and Modernization Programs (EPA) Promotion of domestic investment (EDIP) Responsible Investments (CSR) SME Clustered Investments / Export Consortia UNIDO ITPO NETWORK IN AFRICAFuture Modalities of Operations

14. Thank you for your attention • UNIDO ITPO Italy • Via Paola, 41 Phone: +39 06 679-6521 • 00186 – Rome, Italy Fax: +39 06 679-3670 • www.unido.it e-mail: roma@unido.it