GENEVA, 29 July 2022 – Within the framework of the WTO Eight Global Review of Aid for Trade, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) held two thematic sessions, one on “Advancing the Green Hydrogen Economy”, with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and another on the “Pan African trade as an engine for local economic growth and prosperity (AfCFTA)”, with the Arab Republic of Egypt and Madagascar as well as with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The first session shared experiences for the accelerated up-take of green hydrogen and discussed related opportunities and challenges for industrial development.

“UNIDO will play a significant role in the integration of developing countries as we need long term investment from the private sector while adjusting regulatory framework and incentive for the demand of sustainable programmes”, said Jürgen Zattler, Director-General at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. “Germany is looking forward to working with UNIDO and its partners by joining sustainable investment opportunities and long-term development of partner countries towards the achievement of climate goals”.

The first session included highly regarded experts from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the World Bank, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board (NIPDB), and the Office Chérifien des Phosphates (OCP Group) who also discussed cost constraints brought by the procurement of green hydrogen, thereby highlighting the need for cost scalability especially considering the cost of transportation (seen as re-conversion cost). The second session expounded on the common vision of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), exploring trading challenges and how to address them.

“There is clearly the need to harmonize and facilitate Pan-African trade”, said Soha Gendi, Ambassador and Assistant Foreign Minister of Egypt for African Organizations. “Now, there is political will and stamina behind Member States and what they want to do and achieve when it comes to the African Free Trade Area”.

The second session featured speakers from the Egyptian Foreign Minister for African Organizations, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), UNCTAD, the AE Trade Group, and Kewly Senegal, who underlined the scale of the AfCFTA – estimated at over USD3.4 trillion – and discussed how to enhance competitiveness and trade within regional value chains.

For more information, please contact:

Frank Van Rompaey

Representative of the UNIDO Office in Geneva

office.geneva@unido.org