A unique guide to business and investment in Africa.
Global Africa Network is proud to launch this inaugural edition of African Business 2020 at a time of energetic planning for a prosperous future for the continent.
The African Union’s Agenda 2063 is much more than a document about a hoped-for future, it contains concrete goals and deliverables. The Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) and the development finance institution, the African Development Bank (AfDB) are already rolling out valuable projects that are changing the reality on the ground in vital areas of the African economy.
Perhaps the most significant event of recent times is the signing by African leaders of the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement (AfCFTA) which will bring together all 55 member states of the African Union and cover a market of more than 1.2-billion people. African Business 2020 has articles on all of these recent trends, plus overviews of the key economic sectors and regional and country profiles. In 2019 Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed received the Nobel Peace Prize for peace-making efforts in his region. The economic dividends of peace are beginning to be felt. In 2020 South African President Cyril Ramaphosa assumed the mantle of AU Chairperson. He brings to the role considerable experience in conflict management, constitution-writing and seeking consensus.
Global Africa Network is a proudly African company which has been producing region-specific business and investment guides since 2004, including South African Business and Nigerian Business, in addition to its online investment promotion platform www.globalafricanetwork.com
OVERVIEW Manufacturing
OVERVIEW Manufacturing Growing the sector is key to higher levels of development. Africa’s abundance of natural resources could form the basis for growth in the manufacturing sector as the continent aims to industrialise and to diversify its economy away from a reliance on its natural bounty in its raw form. Increased agricultural and mineral production will produce more material to be processed and manufactured. A report published by The Brookings Institution in 2018 estimates that business-to-business spending in manufacturing in Africa could be 6.3-billion by 2030. This figure represents a 1.2-billion increase over the amount for 2015. The African Union’s Agenda 2063 focusses on raising the continent’s industrial and manufacturing capacity. At the Africa Industrialisation Week held in Addis Ababa in 2018, various complementary plans were outlined to support this goal: the Accelerated Industrial Development of Africa (AIDA), the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plan for Africa (PMPA), the SME Strategy, the Boosting Intra-African Trade and the African Continental Free Trade Area and the UN General Assembly’s Third Industrial Development Decade for Africa (IDDA III). The topics covered at the conference give a good idea of what the priorities are for continental manufacturing: • regional value chains and linking to global value supply • symposium on Special Economic Zones (SEZs) • green industrialisation • catalysing SMEs and the productivity of start-ups • youth entrepreneurship to reduce migration Sector Insight Vehicle manufacturers are setting up plants. • youth and women empowerment in enterprise development • financing industrialisation. The African Development Bank (AfDB) reports that growth spurts driven by manufacturing have a more lasting and deeper impact on a country’s economy than resource-driven booms. The AfDB concludes that, “The implications of such a strong association between manufacturing-driven growth episodes and jobs is that industrialisation is the key to the employment conundrum in Africa” (African Economic Outlook, 2019). Growing the manufacturing AFRICAN BUSINESS 2020 52
Excellence, innovation and transparency Staff at Superfecta Trading are electro-mechanical engineering specialists. As founder members of Superfecta Trading, Patrick and Abigail Mphephu have developed what used to be a company that dealt only in facility management into a multi-faceted electro-mechanical engineering enterprise whose partnerships with international companies gives them the scope to offer a broad range of products and services. General Manager, Noluthando Nkota Manufacturing is soon going to be part of the company’s portfolio. Superfecta will soon open a factory where it will manufacture transformers. With an increasing focus in South Africa on the need for local content, the potential for this aspect of the business to grow is enormous. Superfecta Trading is also looking forward to providing more job opportunities as the manufacturing side of the business takes off. Services offered System maintenance This includes: • Day-to-day/ad hoc • Preventative maintenance • Scheduled maintenance • Servicing and repairs. Mechanical With a professional team of mechanical technologists, Superfecta prides itself on the supply, installation and maintenance of mechanical work. Oil purification Transformer oils undergo electrical stresses while the transformer is in operation. We provide the online or offline purification services needed to extend the life of transformer oils. Electrification and distribution Superfecta is engaged in infrastructure development in rural and urban areas through an extensive programme of installing electricity infrastructure. High-tension electrical reticulation Superfecta installs and conducts repairs to hightension electrical circuits in many parts of South Africa, in urban and rural areas. Transformers Superfecta is a one-stop shop for all transformer and transformer- related work and we pride ourselves on delivering a comprehensive and complete service. 53 AFRICAN BUSINESS 2020
