African Forum for Sustainable Development begins in Ethiopia

Rabat, May 18 (IANS/MAP) The African Regional Forum for Sustainable Development opened its proceedings on Thursday in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa with the participation of several countries, including Morocco.

Representatives from Morocco's State Secretariat for Sustainable Development, the High Commission for Planning and Civil Society along with the country's ambassador to Ethiopia, Nezha Alaoui M'Hamdi, attended the event.

The theme of the session, which precedes the High-Level Forum on Sustainable Development in New York in July, is based on a number of considerations and trends in the eradication of poverty and the promotion of inclusive and sustainable growth and prosperity in Africa.

"To achieve inclusive and sustained growth, African countries need to restructure and diversify their economies, build productive capacities and identify high value-added sectors," said Abdalla Hamdok, Acting Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa.

Hamdok stressed the importance of mobilising all stakeholders in Africa to achieve "equitable" economic growth in order to tackle poverty and achieve the "rapid" socio-economic and human development in the continent.

He also called on Africa to strengthen its comparative advantages, with more efficient and competitive "green industries" to meet the challenge of globalisation.

--IANS

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