Too many bottlenecksDRIVE north-east from Lagos along a potholed highway lined by the shells of burned-out trucks and, as you approach Ibadan, you can see a few modern factories sprouting amid the rusted tin roofs. Most produce basic goods for local markets such as cigarettes or cardboard packaging, rather than the mobile phones, cars and computers that the government would like Nigeria to export. Yet a new report from the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), a think-tank run by a consulting firm, suggests that these sorts of low-tech and local products represent a huge opportunity for industrialisation in Africa.
McKinsey reckons that Africa’s manufacturing output could double over the coming decade—a remarkably ambitious forecast, since it would imply a trebling of the growth rate since 2000. Most of the gain is supposed to come from making things that would be sold in the region; many would replace imports. That there is scope for import-substitution is clear. Africa imports about a third of its processed food and drink, a far higher share than developing Asia or Latin America; much more of that could be made locally. It...Continue reading
Source: Middle East and Africa http://ift.tt/2cI2S33
EmoticonEmoticon