Africa

In recent years, UNIDO ITPO Italy has enhanced its support to the economic development of Sub-Saharan Africa, an economically interesting area and a priority region for Italy, the UN System, and UNIDO itself. In 2008, the activities carried out by the Office centred on drawing more attention to the continent and multiplying its efforts to have Italian companies take advantage of the economic opportunities offered by African markets and resources.

The activities carried forward by UNIDO ITPO Italy aim to attract foreign investment and develop technical and managerial capacities, necessary to start a process of sustainable development. In particular, the objectives of these activities are to:

• Improve the investment climate at the economic, legal, and administrative levels
• Facilitate access to international financing by identifying new and more efficient credit and/or soft-loan schemes
• Develop local entrepreneurship, attract FDI, and strengthen public-private partnerships
• Facilitate the transfer of know-how and expertise for capacity-building activities to local institutions involved in the promotion of the economic and productive systems in Africa

As an example, the intense joint promotional activities of ITPO Italy and the Delegates from Cameroon, Senegal and Mozambique allowed major Italian business institutions to get acquainted with the new African investment climate and orient the interest of their associated companies to a continent offering huge investment opportunities.