Manufacture What Africa Imports (Our insights on manufacturing and investing in Africa)

One of the most concerning trends that we have been witnessing in African macroeconomics over the past few decades is the sheer scale of imports as opposed to exports and local manufacturing practices. If we take a closer look across any sector , we are likely to discover that a significant amount of final products are imported. While the African continent is very rich with natural resources and raw materials used at the beginning of the value chain, we are more prone to ship them out as raw materials and receive finished products as opposed to undertaking the manufacturing process.

If the African continent is to make sustainable economic progress, we must change this narrative. It is important to recognize that manufacturing in Africa is not only possible, but also desirable. This is made possible through the strides that we are making up and down the continent. Across every metric, the African market is becoming more economically and politically stable. This serves the purpose to further improve growth prospects. In addition, strong population growth is also a catalyst for economic growth in that it presents a vast labor market. With a stable foundation to capitalize on, it is expected that more innovation will be emerging from local African communities. This will in turn yield more entrepreneurial activity. This progress ought to translate into bringing a considerable portion of manufacturing activities back home to maximize on that value creation. We should collectively work towards sourcing, assembling and manufacturing products that capitalize on the rich continent of Africa.

This vision of a self-sufficient Africa is one that we’ve been feverishly working towards here at MGroup. Since creating the very first surgical sutures factory in Africa, we have embarked on a journey to build a company that proudly manufactures locally and encourages others to do the same. It has been gratifying to work with clients who acknowledge the power that African trade can bring about. By manufacturing locally, we interact deeply with the communities that we serve and leverage the context and cultural understanding that is so important to business. It turns these business dealings into partnerships, rather than mere transactions. It is important to rebuild the capabilities of the African labor market, as well as reinvest and resume manufacturing activities in the African continent in order to preserve the continent’s labor and economic wealth and capitalize on it.
There has never been a better time to manufacture what Africa currently imports and we hope to see many organizations following in our footsteps in the near future. This is the next big thing.