Africa’s growth continued to increase rising from 3.7 per cent in 2013 to 3.9 per cent in 2014. The performance was underpinned by improved macroeconomic management, diversified trade and investment ties with emerging economies among other factors. Africa’s social development indicators reveal the weakness of the observed economic performance: high unemployment and poverty coexisting with robust growth. This is a paradox.

Industrialization promises to address this paradox by promoting economic diversification, inclusive growth, efficient utilisation of abundant physical, mineral and human resources and in the process eliminate poverty and hence structurally transform Africa economies.

Trade continues to play a major role in Africa’s economic growth performance and it has potential to promote trade-induced industrialization of the continent provided it is deliberately directed at industrialization. For this purpose, trade policy must be consciously designed, effectively implemented and managed with regular monitoring and evaluation. Such a policy must recognise and key into developments in the global production system especially internationalisation of production system with a view to promoting value addition through processing and manufacturing.

Finally, the goal of trade-induced industrialization must also guide the conduct, negotiations and implementation of trade and investment agreements and arrangements.

In order to provide interested stakeholders from government, business, civil society and academia with a better understanding of how trade can serve as an instrument of accelerated industrialization and structural transformation in Africa, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UN ECA) together with its training arm, the United Nations Institute of Economic Development and Planning (UN-IDEP), has partnered with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) to offer this e-learning course based on the UN-ECA Economic Report for Africa 2015 (ERA 2015).