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, and without doubt is 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, and released earlier this year.
The report 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 leveraging the continent's abundant resources and high commodity prices.
