How Africa is preparing for its industrial revolution

In less than fifteen years, the industrial zone of Tangier-Med, in Morocco, has become one of the very first in Africa. A thousand companies produce there for aeronautics, the automobile or the textile sector. “The Moroccan automotive industry exports more than 8 billion euros per year. It will soon overtake that of Italy”observes Patrick Dupoux, Africa Director of the Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

The Tangier site is home to a port, an industrial zone and engineering schools. “We are in a fully competitive industry on a global scale, and not just in the search for low-cost labour”, insists Patrick Dupoux. Tanger-Med is an example of a success, which however remains very rare in Africa.

“Made in Ethiopia” sneakers

Elsewhere on the continent, factories producing for export are not legion. Most are related to the extractive sector or agribusiness for the local market. “Today, as China is withdrawing from the textile industry, factories are instead moving to Cambodia and Vietnam. Africa benefits little from it because of a delay in the quality of infrastructure and the level of qualification of the workforce.regrets the economist of the French Development Agency (AFD) Julien Gourdon.

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Despite everything, a number of African countries are experiencing the beginnings of an industrial boom, such as Ethiopia which manufactures sneakers, South Africa which produces automobiles and medicines, Tanzania which makes vaccines. Other countries host call centersand computer services such as Mauritius, Madagascar, Kenya, Ivory Coast or Senegal.

A number of African conglomerates are also beginning to emerge. BCG has identified 75, such as the Dangote Group in Nigeria, which makes cement, beverages, pasta and refined petroleum. Several large projects might also change the situation: the United Kingdom might invest the equivalent of 13 billion euros to produce 8% of its electricity needs in Morocco, while the Australian group FMG is preparing to invest 70 billion in Congo. to produce green hydrogen from large dams.

Europe ready to invest 150 billion euros

To support Africa in its take-off, the European Union (EU) announced on February 10 its intention to invest 150 billion euros by 2030 in the development of infrastructure, renewable energies and production of vaccines as part of its “Global Gateway” program. It is a question of not leaving the ground to China, but also of accelerating the entry of the African continent into globalization.

The President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, indicated on this occasion that Europe wanted to be the partner “the most reliable and the most important” of Africa. The Europeans should confirm this at the Europe-Africa summit taking place in Brussels on Thursday 17 and Friday 18 February.

Beyond these figures, what is also at stake is a change in approach. Because everyone agrees that the logic that has prevailed so far has shown its limits. Despite billions in public development aid, European countries have lost influence and market share in Africa over the past thirty years. “It’s because the large sums announced rarely reach those who need them. They are eaten up by corruption and bureaucracy”notes a good observer.

The creation of a large market, the business of a generation

This discrepancy creates frustration and resentment vis-à-vis Western governments and forces Europeans to question themselves. “We feel that Europe is ready to change its approach to provide more support for concrete projects, carried out directly by civil society or by companies. This can make it possible to build local sectors”rejoices Philippe Gautier, Managing Director of Medef International.

What might be a game-changer for Africa is also the creation of a continent-wide free trade zone, the Zlecaf. “This area came into being on 1^is January 2021. To date, 25 out of 54 African countries already trade with each other with reduced customs duties on a basket of 90% of products”, notes Julien Gourdon. This zone should accelerate trade between African countries and make the continent more attractive to investors. But this integration process will still take time. It is at least the affair of a generation.

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EU aims to triple vaccine shipments to Africa

On the occasion of the Europe-Africa summit on February 17 and 18, the European Union should make a commitment to triple the number of vaccines supplied to African countries. To date, only 11% of the continent’s population is fully vaccinated once morest Covid. The EU has already provided 150 million doses and is aiming for 450 million by the end of 2022. By comparison, China has provided only 35 million vaccines to countries in Africa. The EU also wants to help launch vaccine production in Rwanda, South Africa and Senegal.