Arancha Gonzalez

Ever since the first power looms put weavers out of work in the late 18th century, technology has increased productivity but threatened jobs for humans.

Women are the most underutilized 'resource' in the world economy.

Women are the half of the engine of our societies; they are half of the engines of our economies.

Predictably, open markets made it possible for countries to drive rapid growth by hitching their wagon to the world economy and using global demand to pull people and resources out of subsistence activities into more productive work.

When the International Trade Centre, the agency I head, works with German electronics giant Bosch to help Kenyan food processing companies boost their productivity and export competitiveness, we may well be creating future customers for Bosch washing machines.

Most people - including business leaders - want a healthy future for their children.

Governments can't credibly claim to be concerned about stagnant growth and ageing workforces unless they are actively seeking to empower women economically. One way they can speed up progress towards gender-equal economic opportunity is to change laws that are holding women back.

Growth without diversification, technological improvement, and increased productivity is easily reversed: all it takes is a dip in commodity prices.

Jobs are the main channel through which people share in - or are left out of - economic growth.

In their pursuit of growth and diversification, African economies should consider transforming the discourse from a focus on industrialisation to a broader one centred on value addition in agriculture, manufacturing, and services.

In a climate where governments are limited in what they can spend, trade and investment offer a path to fiscally responsible growth.

Connecting small and medium-sized businesses to international markets can create work for host country nationals alongside refugees, building economic growth and resilience in host communities.