Netsaalem Bahiru Gebrie writes on LinkedIn: African countries don’t appear in the top 30 world’s biggest exporters list; not even close. The combined total export value of the 54 African countries is around $640B that’s almost equivalent to the value of South Korea’s annual export. See how far behind Africa is?

Africa’s export profile remains commodity-heavy, lacking the manufacturing and value-added industries. There is a huge potential in the continent, however a collective vision for change is not there whatsoever. This status quo has to change, and it requires immediate strategic action from all African nations to diversify their economies and build strong manufacturing sectors.