1989 — Africa Industrialization Day

In July 1989 the Organization of African Unity proclaimed Africa Industrialization Day, and the United Nations endorsed it that December; the day was first observed on November 20, 1990. Backed today by the African Union, the annual commemoration champions an Africa that processes what it grows and mines, creating jobs and wealth at home rather than sending its riches away raw and buying them back finished from others.

Each year carries a theme — from empowering women in processing to building integrated markets. More than three decades on, industrialization remains the continent's unfinished promise: the work of turning what Africa grows and digs into what Africa itself makes, owns and sells.