As a proud son of immigrants who came to SA in the 1980s to start a textile factory, I have long advocated for manufacturing as the sector the country must nurture if we are to overcome unemployment and become more prosperous.
I have seen first-hand that manufacturing is the most cost-effective way of creating sustainable jobs. Knitting and sewing machines are relatively inexpensive capital equipment and unskilled new workers can start with tasks such as packing and cleaning and move on to more skilled posts such as cutting and sewing in a matter of months.
By no means glamorous or highly paid, the steady weekly wage packet a manufacturing job provides allows poor families to make plans — to build their homes and lives — and thus gain respect in the community and live in dignity. Most Asian countries have used manufacturing as a leg of their economic strategy as they pulled themselves out of poverty, and there is no reason African countries cannot do the same.
It seems I am not the only one who sees manufacturing as crucial for Africa’s rise and future prosperity. President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya is on my side, and he would like African countries to work together so the continent can become a manufacturing giant. Kenyatta has just concluded a whirlwind three-day tour of SA, holding talks with President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Union Buildings, inspecting Transnet’s manufacturing facility in Tshwane, and visiting the Aspen Pharmacare factory in Gqeberha to see the production of Covid-19 vaccines that will be exported across Africa.
Top of the agenda for the presidents of the two continental great powers were manufacturing, infrastructure and SA’s visa regime, which hinders investment and free trade. The two presidents did not talk about loan forgiveness or aid. They talked about manufacturing, trade, partnerships and collaborations.
The top complaint Kenyatta brought to Ramaphosa is SA’s archaic visa regime, where SA does not reciprocate Kenya’s visa-free policy towards South Africans. He said: “These borders were not made for us. If we are going to be manufacturing giants we need to do away with these borders”.
I applaud Kenyatta for, again, bringing up SA’s appalling visa regime. This issue was brought up during his last visit to SA a couple of years back. Many millions of dollars of potential investments into SA are lost every year because investors and their skilled managers cannot get visas. We know the visa regime is intended to protect SA workers and jobs, but it is in fact obstructing and destroying inbound investment. Protectionism, whether it is to protect jobs or industries, often has exactly the opposite effect to that which is intended.
Kenyatta is looking to SA for expertise and support for one of his country’s mega infrastructure project. Kenya is eager to develop the port of Lamu and connect it with the landlocked countries of Ethiopia and South Sudan, where a major transport corridor of oil pipeline, roads and railways will provide economic impetus to the north of the country. While South Africans lament the brain drain of engineers and steady decay of our rail, electricity and basic infrastructure, we forget SA remains the most advanced country in terms of the provision of infrastructure on the African continent.
Countries north of the Limpopo in fact look to SA for expertise as they plan, design, build and run their basic infrastructure. They also look to us for expertise on manufacturing, finance and a range of other specialised services. We know the continent has a major infrastructure deficit and there are great business opportunities for those who are prepared for the long haul.
As announcements of collaborations and strategic partnerships between SA and Kenya at the highest level are made, the SA government and businesses ought to re-examine the mistakes they made this past decade, dust themselves off and look seriously at African business opportunities once again.
• Dr Kuo, a former lecturer at the Shanghai International Studies University in China, is adjunct senior lecturer in the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business.
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