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The Centre for Sustainable Structural Transformation presents its second bi-annual conference.

As the world faces rising greenhouse gas emissions, resource depletion, and environmental challenges, African countries are looking for new pathways for sustainable industrialisation underpinned by green energy. Sustainable industrialisation offers an opportunity to responsibly utilise natural resources, decarbonise energy and material intensive industries, diversify economies, and create jobs. 

Many of these development opportunities and pathways for sustainable industrialisation are interlocked at multiple levels. Green hydrogen offers an opportunity to decarbonise and transform sectors such as chemicals and steel, while creating key inputs like fertilizers which are essential for more productive and sustainable food systems. For extraction of mineral resources to be more developmental, infrastructure investments need to be coupled with industrial investments, and minerals governance improved. 

Opportunities for diversification are not only limited to resources, but also to the rising needs of a growing population and attempts to develop more integrated regional markets in Africa. Unlocking these opportunities require both developmental industrial policies, as well as investments from a variety of domestic and international businesses. 

African countries are facing these emerging opportunities and challenges at a time of major restructuring in the global order. They face the challenges of industrialising while responding to new restrictions placed on carbon-based energy for industry as well as rising uncertainty in terms of trade and access to global markets. Policy space has been both expanded by the crisis of the international multilateral order, while at the same time restricted by the rising techno-nationalism and large-scale industrial policy of global super-powers.

By uniting policymakers, industry leaders, and researchers, this conference aims to share insights on sustainable industrialisation pathways for Africa. The CSST at SOAS University of London will present key research findings along with experts and policymakers with an emphasis on new thinking and policy dialogue.

The conference is structured around four main themes and related panels. 

Opening roundtable conversation on the emerging global order: 

1. Industrial policy and the making of a new world order
2. Industrial decarbonisation, re-industrialisation and diversification
3. Resources, infrastructures and development
4. Global restructuring: value chains, businesses and trade

Practitioner roundtable on how to make sustainable industrialisation real in Africa.

Confirmed speakers 

• William Milberg (The New School)
• Fiona Tregenna (University of Johannesburg)
• Sophie van Huellen (University of Manchester)
• Pamela Mondliwa (IDC)
• Ha-Joon Chang (CSST)
• Antonio Andreoni (CSST)
• Richard Kozul-Wright (CSST)
• Simon Roberts (CSST and University of Johannesburg)

This conference is an in-person event by invitation only. The event is open to participants on-line. If you would like to attend the event on-line, please register.

Image credit: Jonathan Borba via Unsplash.