adminthe interface of the world’s leading marine trade exchange between markets within and around the Atlantic, Indian and Mediterranean Oceans. Africa’s climate, abundance of mineral resources, fertile land, and fresh water bodies places it on a higher position to lead the world as the next manufacturing hub of the world.
With its population of one billion people, growth rate of 3 percent and the expanding middle class, Africa is becoming a big market within itself.
Despite being blessed with what is required to become a global player in manufacturing and processing, Africa is still one of the least industrialised continents, a net exporter of cheap raw materials and an importer of costly manufactured goods.
Africa’s present share of global manufacturing is a paltry 1 percent, and this is shrinking, as it is labour intensive, has limited financing, and experiences unreliable and costly power supply and transportation of raw materials. This makes the sector uncompetitive compared to highly efficient and cost-effective modern technologies in advanced nations where financing, reliable energy and huge markets are available.
Africa has also failed to secure its deserved share of global manufacturing revenue because instead of bargaining as a bloc, individual countries go it alone in exploitation of natural resources.
Consequently, as the African countries compete among themselves for FDI, they cannot dictate their own terms for win-win relationships.
This curtails optimal development of manufacturing potential and markets throughout the African continent.
Lack of foundational infrastructure required for the African continent to realise its natural competitiveness in the global manufacturing has forced some African countries to remain net exporters of unprocessed raw materials and importers of costly manufactured goods.
This is economically unproductive because earnings are a fraction of the natural wealth inherent in its exports of unprocessed raw materials.
Nonetheless, as it imports costly manufactured goods, the continent continues to plunge deep into poverty due to the expanding balance of payments in respective countries. As a net exporter of raw materials and huge importer of manufactured goods, the continent slides backwards in manufacturing technology, hence becoming unproductive and poorer.
On the other hand, the energy shortage caused by poor hydropower generation in places like Grand Inga and the Stigler’s Dam in Congo and Tanzania respectively leads to wastage of development potential.
African governments ought to review and harmonise their individual development policies, legislation and programmes with a view to efficiently exploit the wealth inherent in natural resources (like non-renewable mineral resources and power-generation potential) within individual African countries.
Africa should engage the power of collective responsibility to craft an African agenda that will free the continent from chronic dependence on developed nations for aid, which discourages collaboration among African countries in favour of collaboration with the developed donor nations in the management and exploitation of their natural resources.
Chronic dependence on aid is one of the main causes behind the negligible African contribution of the scientific and technological advances governing competitiveness in all modern processes of global wealth creation.
African objectives should include:
- Enabling African countries to formulate and dictate common terms in their collaboration with non-African countries in the management and exploitation of natural resources, and establishing a win-win situation in which African countries will earn their deserved share of the wealth inherent in their natural resources;
- Formulation of Africa’s common master plan for an integrated foundation for infrastructure such as transport, power generation and transmission, and water supply;
- Identification of manufacturing priorities in fisheries, agriculture, forestry and mineral resources and formulation and promotion of a common master plan of priority manufacturing projects;
- Formulation of the African common policies and legislation to ensure individual African countries earn their deserved share of the wealth inherent in their natural resources, encourage joint venture partnerships between the public and private sectors;
- Formulation of guidelines for encouraging and enabling investment of revenues from exploitation of natural resources into development of Africa’s common master plan;
- Establishment and adoption of All-Africa common measures against corrupt practices; and
- Enabling African countries to invest in the development of economic growth anywhere on the continent.
Collaboration among African countries is, therefore, required to enable harmonisation and optimisation of their development policies, legislation and programmes to ensure they earn their deserved share of the wealth generated from their natural resources. — The African Executive.
Online Reporter