Yumkella’s Mission to West Africa to Focus on Agribusiness
UNIDO Director-General Kandeh K. Yumkella (photo) will commence his mission to Sierra Leone which will take him, from 12 to 16 March 2010.
In Freetown, the Director-General will have bilateral meetings with the Government to follow-up on the Trade and Investment Forum, which took place, under the auspices of H.E. President Koroma, on 18 November 2009 in London. There, Yumkella brokered many important discussions, which also involved Rt. Hon. Tony Blair and other high-level leaders. “Sierra Leone needs to continue its recovery process”, said Yumkella, “therefore trade and investment promotion are of utmost importance to bring back growth and prosperity”. The UNIDO Director-General will also discuss follow-up measures to the GEF projects in the energy field that the Organization is implementing for the country.
Finally, Yumkella will inaugurate the Koindu Community Production Centre in the eastern part of the country, at the border with Guinea and Liberia. “Koindu is one of townships that suffered most from the civil war”, said the Director-General. “Before the conflicts, Koindu was a very busy market, and could now unfold its full potential again. But young people can no longer be deprived of education and skills. We need to empower the youth in order to improve their employability and potential for entrepreneurial activities”. UNIDO’s support is part of the multi-stakeholder programme for Productive and Decent Work for Youth in Mano River Union Countries funded by Japan. Together with Growth Centres located in Binkolo, Bo, Kpandebu and Pujehun, the Koindu Centre complements the Sierra Leone Songhai Centre to be located in Newton.
Yumkella’s mission which started in Abuja where UNIDO, together with the Government of Nigeria, the African Union, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the African Development Bank, is organizing the High-level Conference on Development of Agribusiness and Agro-Industries in Africa (HLCD-3A). The event, which was attended by seven Heads of State and Prime Ministers, as well as by 33 Agriculture and Industry Ministers from 30 African countries. It was expected to endorse the African Agribusiness and Agro-industries Development Initiative (3ADI). “The food crisis is certainly one of the most cruel so-called megatrends – as it directly affects the poorest of the poor”, said Yumkella. “We need to boost the development of agribusiness, and we need to do it with the required urgency”.
Yumkella then proceeded to Benin where, in addition to bilateral meetings with the Government, he visited the Songhai Centre which, under the leadership of Father Godfrey Nzamujo, has become synonymous for innovative, ecologically sustainable agro-enterprises. “I call it the “zero emission” initiativeâ€, said Father Godfrey, “the waste from one sector becomes an input for another sector and in that way nothing is wastedâ€. UNIDO is a long-standing partner of the Songhai Centre as it teamed up with five other UN agencies to scale-up the “Songhai model” and take it to 10 neighboring countries, including Sierra Leone.
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