ADDIS ABABA -- Achieving sustainable industrial development in Africa requires a balanced strategy aligning technological innovation with human capital development, experts said at a pan-Africa forum that wrapped up on Saturday.

At the 2023 African Economic Conference in Addis Ababa, themed "Imperatives for Sustainable Industrial Development in Africa," researchers emphasized the pivotal role of integrating technological innovation and human capital development for economic progress on the continent, according to a statement released the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) on Friday. (Africa-Innovation-Industrialization)

- - - -

MAPUTO -- The electricity coverage rate in Mozambique has increased from 48 percent in 2022 to 52 percent this year, Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Carlos Zacarias said Friday.

Zacarias made the announcement during the televised inauguration of a new electricity network at the Zinhane administrative post in the Chigubo district of the southern Gaza province. (Mozambique-Electricity)

- - - -

ROME -- Italian authorities welcomed Moody's latest assessment, which maintained the country's credit ratings at Baa3, but upgraded the outlook from negative to stable.

In a comment released on social media, Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said he was "satisfied with the result." (Italy-Moody-Outlook)

- - - -

HARARE -- African countries need to mobilize domestic financing to upgrade laboratory capacity for fighting antimicrobial resistance (AMR), a senior health official said Saturday.

Speaking during a media sensitization meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe's capital, Yewande Alimi, the AMR program coordinator with the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), said Africa, hardest hit by AMR, should work on improving its bacteriology capacity as well as leverage on the already established COVID-19 genomic sequencing capacity to combat AMR. (Africa-AMR)