The President, the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, said the African continent lost a total of $72bn with Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt and Algeria accounting for most of the drop in value added through industrial production.
The AfDB boss said the loss of industrial production value was responsible for massive unemployment on the continent.
He added that the bank planned to invest $35bn in the next 10 years in a bid to reverse the trend of de-industrialization of the region.
“Between 2012 and 2018, Africa’s industrial value added declined from $702bn to $630bn, a loss of $72bn. Among countries with the largest industrial output, industrial value added dropped sharply by 41 percent in Nigeria, 26 percent in South Africa, 64 percent in Egypt and 67 percent in Algeria,” Adewunmi said.
Adesina however added that some countries are doing well like Morocco whose industrial output expanded in the period by 16 percent, as it became the hub for global aeronautical companies. This is ditto for Ethiopia.
