Manufacturing Missing in Africa’s $2.13B
Investment inflow in Q1 of 2023
— TWF Nigeria —
Dislocation channels are the magical pathways through which materials are profitably deformed. Without them, the erection of continuous structures will remain an impossibility. Similarly, capacity (human, scientific and technical) are the dislocation channels through which manufacturing industries progress or stagnate. Ayo Adeniyi, TWF Executive Director.
Manufacturing industry dislocations, whether naturally occurring or induced, when properly managed, increases productivity, reduces cost, drives investor confidence, sustains creation of job opportunities, and exerts a positive ripple impact on other sectors of every economy.
In fixing the dislocation challenges associated with Africa’s manufacturing industries, The Welding Federation (TWF) promotes increased commitment to welding capacity development and continental technical collaborations through integrated frameworks for productive and cost-effective manufacturing experiences in Africa. TWF’s range of solutions across personnel skilling, capacity integration through collaboration and product validation, is Africa’s best vehicle to improve the national welding capability of every African country to sustain their manufacturing industries, states SAIW Executive Director – John Tarboton.
According to Ayo, the fixed focus of TWF to address manufacturing needs across agriculture, transportation and energy industries are critical deciders on Africa’s ability to addresses the construct of over dependency. The value chain offers in these 3 industries alone and adequate to keep Africa’s players busy all year round. In addition, I do not consent to the imposed ceiling of Africa’s economic potential of 2 or 3 trillion dollars. It is very possible to shoot well above this ceiling with increasing productivity of our manufacturing industry, complemented by consumption and demand even beyond Africa.
In a recently published review of the top twenty performing startups in Africa, a total investment of $2.132B was attracted in just five months states, Axel Peyriere. Mostly tech based, a common thread amongst these top performers is that they all leverage opportunity gateways in the African market.
While there are no manufacturers on this list, the inability of manufacturers to transit from national into continental opportunity highways rank a huge limiting factor. This is despite the vast waterways of opportunities associated with Africa’s manufacturing market space, effectively integrated.There is an urgent need for national stakeholders in Africa’s manufacturing space with high level accumulated capabilities to ascend the technical ladder in project focus, consequently creating access routes for new entries at the ground level of the manufacturing industry. The frequent interference of firms at ground levels is not only limiting corporate potentials, but as well limiting the birth of newer firms to serve Umbrella firms, as against being eating by shark firms. This narrative can best be actualized by the rise of continental champions in manufacturing.Continental champions with a portfolio of solutions capable of addressing the highest level of manufacturing challenges irrespective of location or market forces at play. The inability of firms to rise and roam at continental level has been more limiting than progressive in Africa.The destructive combination of a deliberate divide in technical specifications, capacity disconnects and celebration of ethnic thoughts as groundbreaking concepts must be urgently jettisoned for progressive thinking complementary in todays integrated world.The Welding Federation (TWF) as the table of solutions in Africa’s manufacturing industries welcomes companies with accumulated capabilities from all over Africa to join Africa’s table of solutions in manufacturing and participate in African content development through sharing of experiences and technical collaborating towards cost effective and quality delivery of simple to complex activities across manufacturing space in Africa.The goal is to empower the average African with unrestrained access to opportunities across Africa, which will reduce the high rate of human capital losses associated with Africa.
