Report
FMC Africa Focus | Africa Must Turn Its Natural Wealth into Jobs and Industrial Opportunities at Home: Lesotho Youth Leader
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Lesotho youth leader Lesala Maphathe urged African countries to move beyond exporting raw materials and instead retain more value locally through processing to create jobs and reduce youth unemployment, using diamonds as a case where local cutting and processing could boost employment. He also called for developing local food-processing, wool and mohair industries, and expanding agricultural products such as maize to cut imports and grow domestic value chains. Speaking at the Second African Political Party Summit in Addis Ababa, he tied resource management to industrial development and urged nations to build on their strengths to keep wealth at home.
