Africa will become the world’s manufacturing hub
“The global manufacturing cycle started from Europe then to America, before moving to South East Asia and China. It is now coming to Africa.” – Donald Kaberuka former President of the African Development Bank at the African Union (AU) summit held in Johannesburg, South Africa in June 2015.
Manufacturing accounts for about 70% of global trade and about 80% of global business R&D (McKinsey Global Institute 2012). Manufacturing thus remains a driver of economic prosperity in advanced economies. The global environment in which the Eastern African manufacturing sector develops going forward will be greatly different compared to that in which manufacturing sectors developed elsewhere in the past. This has significant implications for Eastern African policy.
The objective of this event to be hosted in Nairobi, Kenya, is to assess major opportunities and constraints for the development of the Eastern Africa’s manufacturing sector, to look at suitable examples from other regions, and draw lessons to enhance the sector’s contribution to the region’s economic transformation. To this end, several African countries will be featured at the event.