By Adegboyega Ariyo

Africa has about 16 per cent of the world’s population, with 22 per cent of the planet’s dry land and a lot of sunshine for solar energy; the longest river in the world (6670km), the warmest climatic condition, 13.5 per cent of the world trade in ore and minerals, very significant percentage of world agricultural crops (maize, millet, wheat, rice, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, cotton, rubber, sugar cane, citrus crops, groundnut etc), 10 per cent of world oil and natural gas reserves, 6 per cent of coal, 28 per cent of uranium, 40 per cent of gold. Fisheries potentials are unlimited for the continent. The hydro-electricity potential is very huge. Base metals are also available in huge quantity. Tourism industry potentials are vast. The African human resources are sufficient for the industrialisation of Africa. Virtually all construction work being done in Africa today is physically carried out by Africans. The point of note is that Africa should not be a beggar continent. As of now, the industrialised world cannot do without African resources and market.

We need to emphasise industrialisation of Africa now because evidence available shows that Africa is lagging behind in all indices of human advancement. I do not need to give statistics. Suffice, I hope, is the fact that virtually every product of industrialisation now used to improve the quality of life of Africans such as house goods, office appliance and machines, motor vehicles, heavy duty engines, ships, airplanes, railway engines and wagons, computer machines, TV, etc are imported from outside Africa. In some cases, these products are assembled in Africa. The completely-knocked-down-parts come from outside Africa. In some African countries some ridiculous items like tooth pick, comb, pin, juice, food items such as rice, pasta, biscuit, drinking water; furniture etc are still being imported. The summary is that the fortunes of African economies are tied to the vagaries of the developments in other economies in the world. The recent development in the immoral activities in Britain and USA – sub-prime factor in the lending rate for mortgages that led to the meltdown of world financial system – is a very good example. Thus, that we are providing jobs for other continents by persistently buying their products is very clear.

Africa is not really producing what she is consuming. We produce what we do not consume. Until we produce mostly what we are consuming, we shall continue to be dependent on other continents.

Also, unless we are producing (industrialising), the percentage of our participation in the world trade shall continue to be abysmally low (currently about 2 per cent). This will continue to adversely affect the purchasing power of our currencies, which is the value placed on our productivity; the pricing of our valued raw materials by other continents at very cheap price dictated by them; the quantum of African raw materials needed for Africans industrialisation that are inelastic, particularly those that are not agro-based; the availability of jobs that would have been created for Africans if the products are produce in Africa; creation of army of unemployed young and old people in Africa; the political, social, economic, and security problems in Africa; stability in Africa; respect for Africa; and treatment of Africans with dignity.

Based on a very careful study of the economic geography of Africa, one would easily be aware that the raw materials being used to produce the products being imported to Africa are obtainable in Africa. The technologies required are also at the reach of Africans. The conditions precedent for the European industrialisation – poor quality of feeding, diseases high level of social awareness and consequential need for government to perform and meet the living needs of their citizens – are prevalent in Africa today.

The underperformance of various African development blueprints – Lagos Plan of Action, Abuja Treaty of 1991 and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, NEPAD – approved by our leaders with the consent of extra-Africa powers who have turned round to frustrate the actualisation their laudable objectives, is indicative of the high level of social-economic inequalities between Africans and the rest of the world as well as amongst Africans; and the increasing dimension of the socio-economic and political convulsion that Africa may face if there is no remarkable paradigm shift towards meeting the social necessities of Africans as well as the requirements for improving their standard of living.

The above dictate that Africa has no choice but to embark on integrated and focused massive industrialisation.

It is only logical, that I should call for taxonomy of African needs by the year 2020. This will translate to what we want every African to have, afford and enjoy by 2020. What status do we want Africans to have comparatively to other world citizens? In practical terms, how do we ensure that all Africans have all the basic needs – water, shelter, food and clothing, medical facilities, job, television, personal computer, regular supply of electricity, security, etc? Peace and stability in Africa as well as social necessities for all Africans are sine qua non.

The taxonomy will lead to the identification of what must be produced by Africans to meet the needs of Africans. Once the list is done, efforts should be deployed to how we produce them. As examples, I looked at producing means of moving goods, services and human beings from point A to B. I concluded that we should decide to have an African vehicle. If the engine has to be in the middle or back or wherever, there is need to have a patented African vehicle. All materials used in producing vehicles are available in Africa. If we do not have all the technology, we must do the needful to get it. Between the 54 Governments in Africa, a market of over 80 million vehicles could be created annually over a period of ten years. In a study I came across in 1997, there were about 1,300 parts in a vehicle. The parts may have increased now given the electrification of vehicles. There are many universities in Africa where engineering in its entire sphere is being studied. Certainly they should be tasked and in liaison with African governments/entrepreneurs to produced prototypes of each of the parts of an African vehicles. The mould for the parts would then be produced and the parts mass-produced in various countries. Thereafter, about five assembly plants may be set up based on the economics and political decision of African Heads of State and Governments. The industrialisation spinoff from the various industries that could come up as a result of producing an African vehicle in African countries would have tremendous salutary effects on job creation and, indeed, other industrial activities for Africans. The leather industry would be promoted and consequently all other industries that depend on usage of leather. In this regard, the animal husbandry industry, rubber, petrochemical, glass, etc would have positive rub. As a result of the economies of scale (large scale industries) and because the industries would be targeting African market (900 million Africans), the final cost of production would be cheap and therefore Africans’ purchasing power would have effective and efficient spread that should improve their quality of life and consequently dignity.

It is assumed that we have resolved that we should trade amongst ourselves so that we can create and sustain jobs for our teeming population. All the regional economic communities in the continent have to work hard here.

Feeding Africans 

Feeding Africans should be a problem that our integrated. focused and massive industrialisation should address as a matter of urgency. We should stop taking food aid in Africa. It is an insult to our being. From latitude 23 North down to the coast of South Africa, we have over 5 million sq.km of land that could serve productive agrarian activities to feed Africans.

The plains of Sudan can supply all the rice. Kenya can supply all the tea. Ivory Coast can supply coffee and cocoa. Nigeria, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda can supply cocoa, cassava, banana, plantain, and yam. Zambia and Zimbabwe can supply maize, millet etc. South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Niger can supply cattle, sheep, and goats; Congo Brazzaville, Gabon, Central Africa Republic can supply timber, and other fauna products; citrus fruits, date, olive, sugar cane and dairy products can be produced by Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Algeria and Morocco.

Industries should be established in an integrated manner to ensure that all these products are processed to meet Africa’s needs and those of the rest of the world. If Africa can focus, in the main, on these two industries – food and movement – as well as production of electronics including computers, I can assure that by the year 2020 Africa would have become an industrialised continent. The collaterals of such a decisive strategy to achieve would have the required positive rub on other industrial sectors.

The above strategy would call for immediate focus on the construction of energy, transportation and communication infrastructures on African basis. All the hydro-electricity potentials will be targeted and necessary funding secured because the profitability of such investment would have been properly profiled. For rail and road transportation, the links between West and East Africa, Nigeria through Cameroon to Windhoek, Aswan-Khartoum and Kenya-Tanzania-Rwanda and Burundi are needed. The civil works for these linkages should have gas pipelines and waterways where possible. We need to implement the Yamasoukrou agreement on open sky for Africa.

Educational Development 

The above overall calls for an educational development strategy in Africa that would promote 50 per cent of annual budget of every African country to be devoted to educational development. Thereby African budgets would stay more in the economy of Africa and enhance the purchasing power of Africans. In the process, a large volume of the African foreign exchange that is supporting other countries would remain in Africa, and this can be ploughed toward industrial activities. The quality of African education would also improve because quality teachers will stay in the industry once appropriate salaries, allowances, and resource grants are paid. More frontiers of knowledge, especially in Science, Research and Development (R&D), technology and medicine, would benefit.

Tourism should be enhanced as part of the educational programme and all African countries deliberately cause funds to be made available for leaves of their workers. Leaves must be spent in African countries. In the process, African tourism industry will increase and this would foster development of African countries and their tourism industries. It would also promote integration of Africa as well as businesses and industrial activities, being jointly owned by Africans.

Knowledge-Based Industrialisation 

African Industrialisation should be knowledge-based so that all African factors of producing can be efficiently and effectively synergised to produce goods and services so that African economics can meet the living and flourishing needs of Africa in a sustainable manner. Africa will be less dependent on productive activities of other continents. By 2020, Africa’s population could be about 1.3 billion. If we now decide to encourage all Africans to drink tea (thrice in a day); take plantain or products from plantain and banana twice in a day; eat fish, beef or yam with greens everyday; drink milk everyday etc and fund this process, millions of the unemployed Africans will be employed and countries producing these products will have ready markets for their products.Funding of assembly plants for vehicles; industries for parts of vehicles; agro-allied industries; agricultural produce; educational institutions for knowledge-based industrialisation of Africa as well as production of electronics and computers for educational and personal uses in Africa, could be done by Africans without recourse to external borrowing or finance from other countries. Those sources of funding could be Pension funds of all African public and private workers; part of the budget for education that could be devoted to R&D; improved salaries that would ensure that every African worker would have sufficient savings after meeting basic needs, car and household goods; financial impetus for investment in capital market; taxes, royalties, customs and excise duties; collateralisation of African mineral resources as a support for the creation of an ‘African Currency’. The yen, Chinese RMB, US dollar and euro should form the basket of currencies against which the value of African currency would be determined. All public expenditure in Africa would be calculated in this African currency. All payments for any export outside will be paid for in African currency. Happily there is in the offing an African Central Bank and the consequential monetary authorities will be established: and development of an African industrialisation stock to be floated on a Centralised African Stock Exchange, CASE.

What Africa Must Do Urgently 

In many African-instigated blueprints for development, many measures that should accelerate the pace of African industrialisation had been identified. I should seek your understanding to highlight for urgent attention, the following:

•Establishment of 5 African industrial development universities; Establishment of African Research Centres; Establishment of African Management Centres; Establishment of African Training Centres; Development of disciplined technicians to man process industries – petrochemical refineries, pharmaceutical, assembly plants, rolling mills; Pathological analysis of the critical products that will catapult Africa to an industrialised continent; Agreement that no African shall be unemployed by 2020; Synergy of educational materials and curriculum to meet the living (industrialisation etc) needs of Africa in 2020, especially in the physical sciences, mathematics, IT and strategic management of African industrialisation policy and project; Patenting of African motifs, cultural artefacts, monuments, landscape, fauna (including the usage of their images); Establishment of an overarching African Union Department that will be responsible to AU Summit for the implementation of the African Industrialisation strategy that this body may wish to recommend; Establishment of Ministry of Industrialisation in all African countries; Implementation of Open Air for Africa Airlines;

Africa must devise mechanism to trade with itself, and a continental standard organisation to monitor the quality of goods and services should be established.

Africa must cause a political/economic summit to ensure that Africa has a fair share of world trade, at least not less than 10 per cent; review the hands-off economic/business activities by Governments; ensure good governance and the cost of administering our political management must be drastically reduced. Also, expatriate quotas must be reduced to critical areas; Africa can supply the experts; establish an African Currency (Cowry) with all the structures to back it up; establish a mechanism for fair engagement between Africa and the rest of the world. Finally, an AU summit should demand for a performance appraisal of each industrial concern to achieve effective and efficient realisation of African industrialisation strategy, programmes, procedure and processes.

•Adegboyega Christopher Ariyo is a retired career diplomat and former Nigerian Ambassador to Namibia.

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Posted in Nigeria News. A DisNaija.Com network.

Source: PM News

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