Africa should focus on greater local value addition to the continent’s assets in agri-food, manufacturing as well as services to help propel its economy, the International Trade Centre (ITC), Executive Director Arancha Gonzalez said on Tuesday at the opening of the World Export Development Forum.

“While businesses in Africa were until recently focused on the extractive sector; today the biggest opportunities lie in greater local value addition to Africa’s assets in agri-food, manufacturing and more and more in services: ICT, health, tourism, education services are crucial for many of African smaller, landlocked countries such as Rwanda,” she said.

Noting that Africa is already the global marketplace of the future, Gonzalez said it is now about turning local value addition into more jobs, sustained growth, and a more inclusive development.

It is about trading these products and services in international markets, beginning with the markets in the region, she told the gathering.

She spoke about partnerships between policy makers and business, and international development partners and local governments and between global private sector actors and African Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) being central.

She also stressed the importance of SMEs in job creation and the need to address the challenges facing SMEs.

“We must also explore innovative ways to tackle the lack of finance that frustrates the growth prospects of many SMEs in Africa, not least by tapping into impact investment funds. We need to build on the nascent successes of SME incubators, particularly in the technology sector,” she said.

It is projected that by 2030, the world will need to generate an additional 500 million jobs to keep up with growth in the world’s working-age population.

“This is why SMEs figure at the heart of ITC’s work. We know the impact that successful SMEs have on job creation in developing countries. In Africa alone there are over 50 million micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, which employ close to 60% of the workforce,” she said.

Rwanda president Paul Kagame has called on African nations to invest massively in human capital in order to build competitive and modern economy.

“Building a competitive and modern economy requires smart investments in human capital and productive knowledge. Nations should aim at finding a competitive edge and “never give up” development efforts,” he said.

Kagame noted that there is no country so isolated, disadvantaged that it can’t find a competitive edge in the global economy

The two-day event dubbed “SMEs: Creating jobs through trade” reflects the important role a vibrant private sector plays in driving trade-led growth and development.

It will also explore how SMEs can become and remain competitive by addressing issues that impact their entrepreneurial capacity and their operating environment. More than 800 delegates from 73 countries are attending the event.

Rwanda was ranked as the 3rd most competitive country for business in Africa in the World Economic Forum’s 2013-2014 Global Competitiveness Index Report.

In the World Bank’s Doing Business 2014 report, the small East African nation was ranked 32nd out of 189 countries for ease of doing business, up from the 52nd place previously.

Click here to view the WEDF 2014 Opening session report.