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ADDIS ABABA, Dec. 4-- Ethiopia and fellow African countries must plan and evaluate long-term development projects in order to transform the African continent towards the next manufacturing excellence, an Ethiopian scholar said on Wednesday. Costantinos Bt. Costantinos, who served as an economic advisor to the African Union (AU) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), told Xinhua on Wednesday that both Ethiopia and other African countries "must begin to plan and evaluate projects over a longer time horizon in order to transform the continent into the next factory of the world." "While being careful not to throw good money after bad, African governments must create strategies that allow for a longer duration of support for their industry if they intend to create world-beating enterprises," Costantinos told Xinhua. "What is important is to ensure incentives are based on merit, that they are safe- guarded through political cycles, and finally that they have sunset provisions," he added. The scholar further argued that "the right leadership is needed at all levels and in the various sectors to address what we see as the first order challenges including the crisis of confidence, taking ownership of the industrialization." According to Costantinos, African governments should also be able to negotiate the development context, including with the external world to advance national interests. | 
