Africa looks to the Orient for lessons

China provides a model that the continent would like to emulate as economy grows

Generally speaking, there is no argument - Africa needs industrialization to provide jobs, reduce poverty and improve economies. Also, it needs overseas investment for this to happen and China is in a good position to provide it.

But when it comes to details and practicalities, there is a great deal of debate over how this can be done, or even whether it can be done at all.

There are 55 recognized countries in Africa, all differing from each other in many respects. Most may share the same problems and general wish for investment and industrialization to overcome them, but not the capabilities, conditions, cohesion or consensus needed to do so.

China is currently involved one way or another in the development of more than 50 African nations. Without doubt it can be said to be at the heart of the issue over the industrialization of the continent.

"Massive industrialization based on commodities in Africa is imperative, possible, and beneficial," states the 2013 edition of the Economic Report on Africa, co-authored by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the African Union, released earlier this year.

The report, Making the Most of Africa's Commodities: Industrialization for Growth, Jobs and Economic Transformation, argues that Africa needs to frame specific policies for commodity-based industrialization for each country to ensure initiatives that foster linked development and to speed up that process through leveragingthe continent's abundant resources and high commodity prices.

Individually and collectively, African countries must embark on a "bold transformation" toward a commodity-based industrialization strategy to allow the continent to take charge of its own development, the report says, which is necessary if African countries are to be able to address youth unemployment, poverty and gender disparities, among other challenges.