1.
GV EXTERIOR African Conference Hall.
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2.
CU & SV Hailu Yimenu speaking as delegates from Algeria, Gambia and Liberia listen. (SOT) (6 SHOTS)
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3.
SV OAU representative Paul Etiang speaks with Chad delegate listening. (SOT) (3 SHOTS)
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YIMENU: (SEQ 2) "In the Lagos plan of action for the economic development of Africa, which was adopted by the economic summit of the Organisation of African Unity in 1980, member states proclaimed the years from 1980 to 1990 as the Industrial Development Decade for Africa. An assessment of the dismal situation of industry in Africa had led the authors of the Lagos plan of action to state that: twenty years after the attainment of political independence by the majority of African countries, the continent was entering the decade of the 1980s in a state of underdevelopment, and that Africa was the least developed region in the world. It is to be recalled that the programmes and strategies envisaged in the Industrial Development Decade for Africa, call for stimulating economy growth through, among other things, a self-reliant and self-sustained process of industrialisation."



ETIANG: (SEQ 3) "It has become normal that Africa features negatively in the world press with gross exaggerations which are designated, which are designed to portray abject destitution and a state of complete helplessness. This is particularly true with regard to the food situation facing much of Africa as a result of prolonged drought and (indistinct)."





Initials JS/JRS





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Background: African industry ministers met in Addis Ababa on March 26 to establish the African position before August's meeting of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation in Vienna. The Vienna conference will discuss the 1980-1990 African Industrial Development Decade, and concentrate on programmes to be implemented in the 1985 to 1990 section. With a massive 1983 foreign debt of 150 billion dollars, the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) is trying to stimulate its members' economies, aiming at self-reliance and a self-sustained growth of industrialisation for Africa. However, new industries have tended to be costly, relying on imported raw materials, capital, technology and know-how. The plan for this decade is based on a formula submitted by Nigeria and adopted by the Organisation in 1980. It broadly calls for the creation of an African Common Market by the year 2000, self-reliance, export of natural resources and job creation. Addressing the opening session, Ethiopian Industry Minister Hailu Yimenu reminded the conference that Africa entered the decade as the least developed region in the world. Later, OAU Assistant Secretary-General Mr. Paul O. Etiang, said Africa featured negatively in the world press as abjectly destitute and in a state of helplessness. He said the prolonged drought had contributed to the picture. A grim picture came from United Nations Under Secretary General, Professor Adebayo Adedeji, who described African industry as in a state of crisis with most enterprises either stagnating or about to collapse.