Carlos Lopes writes:
A business as usual approach to industrialisation is not only damaging and costly. But the alternative is actually a much better business proposition.
Industrialisation is an imperative for Africa. With a global economy constrained by climate change and driven by competitive supply chains, the continent’s aspirations are difficult to fulfil. Accelerated and profound economic structural transformation is the only means to do so and to address chronic poverty.This industrialisation has to counton a regional African market before it extends to global supply chains. And it ought to have a special emphasis on agroprocessed products and value addition to commodities. For example, transforming the continent’s mineral export volume in this way by just 5% before export can create 5 million jobs a year. Moreover, recent estimates also show that African countries spend some $30 billion a year to import processed food. This trend can and must be reversed...[more]