<div style="display: block; position: relative; max-width: 730px;">
<div style="padding-top: 56.25%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0px; bottom: 0px; right: 0px; left: 0px;" src="//players.brightcove.net/1571595826001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5783057775001" allowfullscreen="" border=0 frameborder=0></iframe></div>
</div>
<p>The technological access gap is a serious issue for under privileged South Africans. Gemma Corrigan, Head of Inclusive Growth Practice at WEF spoke to CNBC Africa about how the 4IR can be successfully applied locally.</p>


Achieving inclusive growth for SA in the Fourth Industrial Revolution

<div style="display: block; position: relative; max-width: 730px;">
<div style="padding-top: 56.25%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0px; bottom: 0px; right: 0px; left: 0px;" src="//players.brightcove.net/1571595826001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5728834870001" allowfullscreen="" border=0 frameborder=0></iframe></div>
</div>
<p>As the world moves towards the fourth industrial revolution, South Africa needs to gear up and also prepare itself for the digital revolution. The ongoing Technology Innovation Conference, hosted by the Gauteng Government, at the Gallagher Estate is doing just that with experts looking at how South Africa can accommodate the digital revolution. Speaking to CNBC Africa, one of these experts, Mariana Kruger, GM, ICT and Converged Solutions at MTN, took us into confidence in how the country’s digital future will shape up.</p>


More needs to be done to advance SA’s digital revolution – MTN

<div style="display: block; position: relative; max-width: 730px;">
<div style="padding-top: 56.25%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0px; bottom: 0px; right: 0px; left: 0px;" src="//players.brightcove.net/1571595826001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5716544453001" allowfullscreen="" border=0 frameborder=0></iframe></div>
</div>
<p>Chairman of Zenith Bank, Jim Ovia says although African countries have improved tremendously with regards to technology adoption, the continent’s embrace of the fourth industrial revolution is still limited by infrastructure.</p>


What Africa needs to achieve fourth industrial revolution

<div style="display: block; position: relative; max-width: 730px;">
<div style="padding-top: 56.25%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0px; bottom: 0px; right: 0px; left: 0px;" src="//players.brightcove.net/1571595826001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5650171673001" allowfullscreen="" border=0 frameborder=0></iframe></div>
</div>
<p>The Fourth Industrial Revolution will have a negative impact on the economic prospects of women due to a skills shortage in the maths and science sectors.</p>


iamtheCODE Founder advocates for more investment in girls

<p><em>Likun Zhao | Consumer Business Group SA</em></p>
<p>People seem to be rather dichotomous in their thinking when it comes to predicting the specifics of an AI-driven future, especially when it comes to the world of work. It has been suggested that machines will either take everyone’s jobs and render humanity useless, or they will be catalysts for a world where humans are freed up to ponder issues that have plagued our society for decades. Super AI in the world of singularity has been hailed as the ultimate slayer of modern economic systems – the government can’t tax AI. The reality, of course, is probably somewhere in between.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-289646 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/AI_Pixabay1.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="678" /></p>
<p>What is certain, however, is that the fourth industrial revolution, just like the three movements before it, is ushering in change – and we have to do what we can to be prepared for that seismic shift, especially when it comes to how we plan on earning an income in the future.</p>
<p><strong>What makes us human?</strong></p>
<p>Perhaps an important starting point when imagining the future workplace is to ask: What differentiates people from AI? At the moment, it’s our emotional intelligence. Subtleties in tone and nuances in attitude are far more difficult to read than simple actions and predictable behaviours. Excellent interpersonal skills and human literacy will therefore be even more highly valued in the future, with a premium being placed on being able to work well in teams and communicate effectively. Although many functions humans perform will most likely be replaced and even enhanced by learning machines, the importance of the human touch should never be underestimated.</p>
<p>Another quality that is likely to be highly esteemed in the next few decades is creativity. This applies to both artistic pursuits – although robots have been known to create beautiful works of art – and also to approaching problems. People should be continuously exploring new ways of thinking about problems, and applying multi-disciplinary approaches. An attitude of continuous curiosity will be desirable, with the ‘what’ being far less important than the ‘why’ and the ‘how’.</p>
<p>Flexibility will also be well regarded in the workplace of the future. “Change is the only constant”, the ancient Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, once said, and his prophetic musings become even more apt as technology continues to shift our world at a rapid pace. Individuals will need to show increased agility in skills, attitude and thinking as they adapt to changes that will affect the world of work. There will be no place for rigidity when the environment requires a fluid workforce.</p>
<p><strong>What can we learn from AI machines?</strong></p>
<p>AI devices are learning machines. Unlike automated robots, instruments that make use of AI technology are devised to digest and analyse information, apply it, and then further build on that knowledge. Quite simply, AI is geared for constant improvement and development. Similarly, people should adopt this mindset of continuous learning if they are to be prepared for the workplace of the future. The professions of the future will not be role- or job-focused. Rather, there will be an emphasis on continuously acquiring new skills that can be applied in a wide range of industries.  In the future, learning and working will be interlinked – and this will apply throughout someone’s lifetime. A degree acquired 15 years ago, along with a decade of experience, will no longer be regarded as adequate learning for the job you are doing now.</p>
<p>A good example of how AI is being integrated more and more into our everyday lives is through smartphones. This year saw the launch of the first smartphones ever with on-device AI, one of these being the Huawei Mate 10, which combines machine learning and power management. It is able to listen, read and even understand how people think, anticipating what we need before we even request it. The phone also uses this information to intelligently manage its power usage, and allocate power to the applications you use more frequently, so that the phone’s battery is not drained prematurely. The ultimate result is the intelligent evolution of modern day devices. The superphone is not replacing us, but rather empowering us to evolve as humans, much like AI will help us develop new skills in the workplace over the next few years.</p>
<p><strong>What does the future world of work look like?</strong></p>
<p>While futurists have been able to make many predictions about what 2030 and beyond will look like, we must remember that the jobs of the future have not been invented yet, and so nothing is certain. What is definite, however, is that AI will play a significant role in reimagining how people will contribute to society and earn their bread and butter. Skills which we value today will most likely not be the talents that are at a premium tomorrow. The best approach may well be to focus on what makes us different from these learning machines and examine how we can complement AI technology, rather than try to compete with it.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>


What workplace skills will get you to the top in the age of AI?

<p>[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvDdMTgWX2Q[/embedyt]</p>
<p>Internationally lauded tech entrepreneur, Rapelang Rabana shared her ideas on the Fourth Industrial Revolution at the Accenture Innovation Conference on 17 October 2017 in Johannesburg, South Africa.</p>


Tech entrepreneur Rapelang Rabana shares her thoughts on the Fourth Industrial Revolution

<div style="display: block; position: relative; max-width: 640px;">
<div style="padding-top: 56.25%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0px; bottom: 0px; right: 0px; left: 0px;" src="//players.brightcove.net/1571595826001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5623599046001" allowfullscreen="" border=0 frameborder=0></iframe></div>
</div>
<p>A range of new technologies are fusing together the digital, physical and biological worlds to bring in the widely spoken about fourth industrial revolution.</p>


Challenges that come with the fourth industrial revolution

<div style="display: block; position: relative; max-width: 640px;">
<div style="padding-top: 56.25%;"><iframe loading="lazy" style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0px; bottom: 0px; right: 0px; left: 0px;" src="//players.brightcove.net/1571595826001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5619081932001" width="300" height="150" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div>
</div>
<p>The advent of the fourth industrial revolution is expected to impact negatively more so on women as most women do not have specialised skills that will be required for job opportunities. Ndoni Mcunu, founder Black Women in Science joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Tech revolution: Women fight not to lose out

<div style="display: block; position: relative; max-width: 640px;">
<div style="padding-top: 56.25%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0px; bottom: 0px; right: 0px; left: 0px;" src="//players.brightcove.net/1571595826001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5613882985001" allowfullscreen="" border=0 frameborder=0></iframe></div>
</div>
<p>Lindsay Duff, Country Lead for What3Words, who spoke at the Africa Summit last week on the topic &#8220;Disruption is the answer &#8211; how companies can prosper by disrupting Africa&#8217;s challenges”.</p>


Is disruption the answer to Africa’s challenges?

<div style="display: block; position: relative; max-width: 640px;">
<div style="padding-top: 56.25%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0px; bottom: 0px; right: 0px; left: 0px;" src="//players.brightcove.net/1571595826001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5612748699001" allowfullscreen="" border=0 frameborder=0></iframe></div>
</div>
<p>This could be the best time to be a start-up. As disruptors and innovators, start-ups are in a sweet spot to benefit from the fourth industrial revolution that is currently underway.</p>


Worried about being disrupted: Here’s what you can do about it

<div style="display: block; position: relative; max-width: 640px;">
<div style="padding-top: 56.25%;"><iframe loading="lazy" style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0px; bottom: 0px; right: 0px; left: 0px;" src="//players.brightcove.net/1571595826001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5612407998001" width="300" height="150" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div>
</div>
<p>Many argue that successful business leaders in the fourth industrial revolution will be those that drive both sustainability and growth. The challenge many businesses have, is what to prioritise, especially in the current low economic environment. Phuti Mahanyele, CEO, Sigma Capital shared her views on what sustainability is and how businesses can strike a better balance between it and growth.</p>


Balancing growth and sustainability

<div style="display: block; position: relative; max-width: 640px;">
<div style="padding-top: 56.25%;"><iframe loading="lazy" style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0px; bottom: 0px; right: 0px; left: 0px;" src="//players.brightcove.net/1571595826001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5612374765001" width="300" height="150" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div>
</div>
<p>For the sixth consecutive year, the Thomson Reuters Africa Summit, in association with CNBC Africa, took place in Cape Town. Executives from all over Africa gathered to discuss the future of business on the continent.</p>


What the advent of the fourth industrial revolution means for GGDA

<div style="display: block; position: relative; max-width: 640px;">
<div style="padding-top: 56.25%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0px; bottom: 0px; right: 0px; left: 0px;" src="//players.brightcove.net/1571595826001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5598519046001" allowfullscreen="" border=0 frameborder=0></iframe></div>
</div>
<p>CNBC Africa caught up with the host, SAFCOL Chairperson, Lungile Mabece, who shared his thoughts on how the forestry industry can be part of the global technology revolution.</p>


Forestry Industrialization Conference debate the future of forestry

<div style="display: block; position: relative; max-width: 640px;">
<div style="padding-top: 56.25%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0px; bottom: 0px; right: 0px; left: 0px;" src="//players.brightcove.net/1571595826001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5567380877001" allowfullscreen="" border=0 frameborder=0></iframe></div>
</div>
<p>The Fourth Industrial Revolution has become the latest buzzword. Now a South African company called 4Sight Holdings, a pioneer in Industry 4.0 technology, has announced plans to list on the JSE&#8217;s Alternative Exchange in October.</p>


4Sight Holdings plans October listing on JSE’s AltX

<div style="display: block; position: relative; max-width: 640px;">
<div style="padding-top: 56.25%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0px; bottom: 0px; right: 0px; left: 0px;" src="//players.brightcove.net/1571595826001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5524524581001" allowfullscreen="" border=0 frameborder=0></iframe></div>
</div>
<p>The recently launched white paper on Accelerating Gender Parity in the Fourth Industrial Revolution found that increasing diversity within talent pools and leadership would prevent a widening gender gap.</p>


Understanding WEF’s white paper on accelerating gender parity

<p>Since the 19th century <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/may/01/may-day-history-international-workers-day">May 1</a> has been International Worker’s Day, chosen by organised labour to celebrate the contribution of workers around the world. But it’s frequently forgotten that the day actually celebrates a particular achievement of the labour movement: being able to do <em>less</em> work. Not better paid or decent work, but shorter working hours.</p>
<p>May 1 initially commemorated the 1886 <a href="http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/571.html">Haymarket affair</a>, where Chicago workers were striking for a radical and dangerous proposal: the eight-hour work day. This idea was so incendiary that the protests turned violent; both police and protesters died in the conflict.</p>
<p>Today more and more people around the world are facing <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/11/precariat-global-class-rise-of-populism/">precarity</a>, casualisation, inequality and unemployment. It’s time to pursue a new agenda for a new global labour movement – or rather, to update the old agenda of the 19th century: less working time and more money for all, in the form of shorter work days and a universal basic income.</p>
<h2>What happened to the struggle?</h2>
<p>An eight-hour work day and weekends off were far from the norm for most full-time workers before the early 20th century. They usually <a href="http://sk.sagepub.com/reference/activism/n289.xml">worked</a> 12 to 16 hours a day, six days a week. It took a protracted, often <a href="https://iww.org/history/library/misc/origins_of_mayday">violent</a> organised labour <a href="http://www.tandfebooks.com/doi/view/10.4324/9781315778426">struggle</a> in the face of strenuous <a href="http://tems.umn.edu/pdf/EPThompson-PastPresent.pdf">opposition</a> to change that.</p>
<p>Forty-hour work weeks were finally legislated around the world less than a century ago. This seemed like just the beginning. The economist John Maynard Keynes <a href="http://www.econ.yale.edu/smith/econ116a/keynes1.pdf">predicted</a> in 1930 that thanks to technology, within a century we’d all stop worrying about subsistence. We’d work 15 hours a week, just enough to keep us from getting bored.</p>
<p>In some ways he was right. Technological advancement has exceeded his wildest dreams; productivity and output per worker has <a href="http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/users/rauch/worktime/">soared</a>. But this has proven to be our problem rather than a source of liberation.</p>
<p>As productivity grew and each worker could produce ever more output, we consumed more and more stuff so that full time, 40-hour-a-week employment could stay stable. Now we’ve reached our limits, with climate change, pollution, deforestation and extinction spiralling out of control. We <a href="https://theconversation.com/time-for-degrowth-to-save-the-planet-we-must-shrink-the-economy-64195">can’t afford</a> to keep consuming ever more.</p>
<p>We’ve also moved into a different phase of automation, a “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jan/19/fourth-industrial-revolution-set-to-benefit-richest-ubs-report-says">fourth industrial revolution</a>” where artificial intelligence and machine learning can do the work of <a href="https://www.wired.com/2017/02/robots-will-soon-taxes-bye-bye-accounting-jobs/">accountants</a>, <a href="https://hbr.org/2016/10/robots-will-replace-doctors-lawyers-and-other-professionals">lawyers</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/magazine/the-robots-are-coming-for-wall-street.html">other</a> professionals.</p>
<p>The logical solution would be to enjoy such automation by working less (while the amount of stuff produced remains the same with machines’ help). Instead, those of us lucky enough to be formally employed still work nominally 40-hour weeks (in reality too often working <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/the-death-of-moritz-erhardt-and-keyness-mistake">far</a> <a href="http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/western-cape/young-doctors-dangerously-overworked-2034705">more</a>) while ever more people can’t find any <a href="http://www.ilo.org/global/research/global-reports/weso/2015-changing-nature-of-jobs/lang--en/index.htm">steady</a> employment.</p>
<p>The fruits of soaring productivity growth and the wealth generated by automation are <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/04/will-robots-take-our-jobs-this-is-what-economists-think/">not being redistributed</a> via rising salaries or shorter working hours. Instead they are captured by a tiny global elite. <a href="https://www.oxfam.org/en/research/economy-1">The richest 1%</a> now has more wealth than the rest of the world put together. Yet there isn’t a mass organised struggle explicitly calling for a redistribution of wealth and work.</p>
<p>Instead, in places as varied as <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/xenophobic-violence-democratic-south-africa">South Africa</a>, the <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/02/02/anti-immigration-history-repeats-itself-100-years-later/97347642/">US</a> and <a href="http://www.vox.com/2016/6/25/12029786/brexit-uk-eu-immigration-xenophobia">Europe</a> increasingly frustrated, alienated populations faced with the rise of precarious work and wage stagnation point their finger at foreigners and immigrants. Their calls are not for redistribution, but for isolation and xenophobic exclusion.</p>
<p>South Africa is a prime example of this contradiction. It’s the most <a href="http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI">unequal</a> major country in the world, with staggering <a href="https://mg.co.za/article/2016-08-04-00-figures-suggest-sa-has-the-highest-concentration-of-wealth-in-the-hands-of-a-few">wealth</a> <em>and</em> unemployment rates. It has experienced years of deindustrialisation and jobless growth.</p>
<p>South Africa is experiencing the sorts of contradictions that follow in <a href="http://m.mgafrica.com/article/2016-01-28-look-away-ethiopia-south-africa-and-nigeria-the-robots-are-coming-for-your-jobs">automation’s wake</a>. Factory and even <a href="http://www.itweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=156262">service jobs</a> are being <a href="https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/news/business/automation-will-wipe-out-jobs-in-africa-others-w-bank/194364.html">automated</a>, and CEOs earn <a href="https://qz.com/841172/the-bloomberg-ranking-of-ceo-salaries-shows-that-south-african-executives-earn-the-most-relative-to-the-average-income/">541 times</a> the average income. Meanwhile, people desperate for a wage resort to what anthropologist David Graeber terms “<a href="http://strikemag.org/bullshit-jobs/">bullshit jobs</a>” like pumping other people’s petrol or watching their parked cars.</p>
<p>South Africa’s inequality isn’t just a matter of income or wealth. It’s also a matter of working hours – some people have too many, some none at all.</p>
<h2>From labour to leisure</h2>
<p>An obvious solution would be to cut back on the standard work week so that demand for labour goes up.</p>
<p>Education institutions would have to scramble to fill some of the demand for skilled workers. But the pressure might be a good thing. It would push the school system to produce well-equipped graduates, and provide new solutions to problems such as the <a href="https://mg.co.za/tag/fees-must-fall">university fee crisis</a>, spurring greater urgency for the state or private sector to underwrite higher education programmes.</p>
<p>This would also decrease inequality. The only way to keep wages the same while hiring more people is for wealth to get spread out: for the highest earners and others who capture the fruits of corporate profits (i.e., <a href="https://www.jacobinmag.com/2017/01/rich-universal-basic-income-piketty-passive-income-capital-income/">shareholders</a>) to get less so workers get more.</p>
<p><a href="http://neweconomics.org/2010/02/21-hours/">Shortening working hours</a> has also been linked with a host of other social goods like better health outcomes, less impact on the environment, higher gender equity, and increased happiness and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/21/business/international/in-sweden-an-experiment-turns-shorter-workdays-into-bigger-gains.html">productivity</a>.</p>
<p>Labour must also be decommodified more broadly. Then even those unable to sell their labour in a rapidly automating world would reap some of automation’s fruits.</p>
<p>The simplest proposal to achieve this is the <a href="https://www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/less-work-more-time-universal-basic-income-feminist-utopia">universal basic income guarantee</a>: the idea that everyone gets enough cash every month to cover essential living costs, no matter what. It’s <a href="http://www.scottsantens.com/negative-income-tax-nit-and-unconditional-basic-income-ubi-what-makes-them-the-same-and-what-makes-them-different">a redistributory measure</a>. If you earn enough to not need it, you <a href="https://medium.com/basic-income/if-we-can-afford-our-current-welfare-system-we-can-afford-basic-income-9ae9b5f186af#.15umt34yl">give it back</a> to the communal pot when paying your taxes.</p>
<p>If that aspect is taken into account, the proposal is surprisingly <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10875549.2014.991889">affordable</a>. It could also end <a href="http://basicincome.org/?s=poverty">poverty</a>, stem <a href="http://basicincome.org/?s=inequality">inequality</a>, enable work that isn’t valued by capitalist markets (such as <a href="http://basicincome.org/?s=care+work">care work</a> or the <a href="https://composerjude.com/2015/03/04/vanishing-scarcity-at-nabig-2015/">arts</a>), and empower workers to bargain for better conditions without the fear of starvation or homelessness.</p>
<p>What we need are shorter working hours and a universal basic income. In other words, a leisure movement – not a labour movement.</p>
<h2>Radical, and attainable</h2>
<p>Such a call is both radical and attainable. It’s attainable because it simply spreads out the gains from productivity growth. It’s radical because we live with the <a href="http://www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/jhamlin/1095/The%20Protestant%20Ethic%20and%20the%20Spirit%20of%20Capitalism.pdf">cultural ramifications</a> of centuries of labour scarcity, when everyone had to work as much as possible to produce enough goods to go around. That’s not the case anymore, yet <a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/The-Problem-with-Work/">the old mentality remains</a>: hard workers are morally superior, and laziness is unquestioningly a character flaw, a moral failing.</p>
<p>This is a default assumption not only among the middle and upper classes, but as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVvZGrCeU9k">my own</a> and <a href="http://bulletin.ids.ac.uk/idsbo/article/view/362">others’</a> recent <a href="https://www.academia.edu/7798249/How_social_security_becomes_social_insecurity_unsettled_households_crisis_talk_and_the_value_of_grants_in_a_Kwazulu-Natal_village">research</a> in South Africa and Namibia shows, among the unemployed poor as well.</p>
<p>This proposal is also radical because it challenges the unopposed accumulation of wealth amongst a small elite. It will certainly be opposed by the very wealthy. But then, so were calls for a 40-hour work week.</p>


The new labour struggle: less work, same pay, and basic income for all

<p>In 1624, the English poet John Donne wrote the famous line: “No man is an island.” His verse conveys the message that no one is self-sufficient; we all rely on others.</p>
<p>As we enter the <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-what-it-means-and-how-to-respond/">Fourth Industrial Revolution</a>, in which advanced manufacturing and the convergence of new technologies hold the key to economic success – or failure, these words have never seemed so prescient.</p>
<p><strong>A world in flux</strong></p>
<p>The opportunities presented by emerging technology breakthroughs are vast. They have the potential, when combined and connected, to transform our manufacturing and production systems, entire business models, our economic outlook, the future of employment and even our stewardship of the world around us.</p>
<p>The key lies in the words “combined” and “connected”: more than at any other time in our industrial history, deep collaboration across our civic, organizational and national boundaries is needed to unlock the true value that these new production systems offer.</p>
<p><strong>FOR MORE WEF AFRICA CONTENT READ:</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://cnbc.africa/category/insights/world-economic-forum/wef-africa-2017/">WEF AFRICA 2017<br />
</a><br />
Unfortunately, the failure to date to combine and connect is having very real consequences. Certain groups and regions within countries feel the global free market system is working against their interests and they are turning to political leaders peddling a return to nationalism and protectionist policies—an “<a href="https://www.atkearney.com/gbpc/thought-leadership/detail/-/asset_publisher/03JmqNRaRZj7/content/from-globalization-to-islandization/10192">islandization</a>” of what was globalization.</p>
<p>On top of the real and perceived political consequences of inequality within key markets, our era is characterized by growing volatility, unpredictability, and geopolitical tensions. This swing towards divergent economic approaches has slowed cross-border movement of goods, services, capital and people.</p>
<p>Another influencing factor is the extent to which economies around the globe have been able to industrialize. Those that have had the capacity to translate scientific discovery into technological innovation are arguably going to be quicker off the starting blocks. Others may find themselves having to look for opportunities to bypass traditional routes to development.</p>
<p>Clearly, different countries and regions will need their own unique strategies to take advantage of this new future of production in an increasingly “islandized” world – that is, one less friendly to global trade, and far less favourable to new entrants on the global stage. One of the most interesting examples is Africa.</p>
<p><strong>The outlook for Africa</strong></p>
<p>As a collection of disparate economies, and with mixed experience in manufacturing, Africa largely missed out on the opportunities afforded by globalization. Today, it is starting to gain ground and has a selection of success stories, notably in Mauritius, Ethiopia and Tanzania.</p>
<p>There are also encouraging <a href="https://www.odi.org/comment/10382-why-african-manufacturing-doing-better-you-think">signs of growth</a> for the continent as a whole. Manufacturing in Africa – although having declined as a share of GDP in most individual countries – is actually growing in absolute terms. Between 2005 and 2014, production more than doubled from $73 billion to $157 billion. Additionally, foreign direct investment (FDI) has been increasing, while direct investment from one African country to another is now a significant source of FDI.</p>
<p><strong>FOR MORE WEF AFRICA CONTENT READ:</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://cnbc.africa/category/insights/world-economic-forum/wef-africa-2017/">WEF AFRICA 2017</a></p>
<p>However, Africa’s total share of global manufacturing exports remains at less than 1%. Moreover, together with Latin America, it holds less than 8% of the market in the big five new production technologies (the Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, robotics, 3D printing and enterprise wearables).</p>
<p><strong>Geographic adoption of technologies</strong></p>
<p>As I wrote <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/05/how-can-african-manufacturing-achieve-its-full-potential/">last year</a>, population growth and the associated need to create jobs mean that Africa has no alternative but to continue to develop a strong, value-added manufacturing base. In addition, increasing consumption – driven by a rising middle class – presents another argument for industrialization.</p>
<p><strong>Two windows of opportunity</strong></p>
<p>For Africa, the advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the trend of “islandization” both offer opportunities to catch or even leapfrog its global competitors through the use of innovative approaches to industrialization.</p>
<p>Firstly, new technologies are undoubtedly <a href="https://www.weforum.org/whitepapers/technology-and-innovation-for-the-future-of-production-accelerating-value-creation">improving the economics of local production systems</a>, enabling developing communities to become more self-sufficient. Local production also reduces the need for costly, long-distance transportation, which has long impeded Africa’s ability to compete. Meanwhile, as costs rise in China and other economies start to move up the value chain, Africa could emerge as an alternative source of light manufacturing. Along with an improving business environment, the Fourth Industrial Revolution could potentially provide Africa with a launchpad to accelerate its industrial development.</p>
<p>“Islandization” might seem an unlikely opportunity, but, while undoubtedly problematic from a rational economics perspective, the trend does not foreclose Africa’s right to rise economically. On the contrary, it offers an additional blueprint for future success. With the other major players setting up their own “islandized” economies, Africa could seize the opportunity to do the same, in an inspired way. By viewing its own market bloc as the end consumer base for production, Africa has the ability to grow its global competitiveness. If enacted, the African Union’s proposed Continental Free Trade Area could double intra-African trade from its 2012 level by 2022.</p>
<p>Of course, this is not to suggest that Africa should become protectionist or replace all foreign imports with domestic production; rather, the idea is to find ways to reduce its own internal barriers and create free trade across the continent. This would encourage inward-facing markets and the free movement of people and ideas, and establish value chains on the continent, while addressing longstanding infrastructure challenges.</p>
<p>If Africa can ride both of these trends, it will kick-start an industrial upswing, presenting an opportunity for the continent to emerge as an economic power in its own right.</p>
<p><em>This article was supplied to CNBC Africa by WEF Africa. Watch our coverage from 3-5 May 2017</em></p>


fourth industrial revolution

Achieving inclusive growth for SA in the Fourth Industrial Revolution

More needs to be done to advance SA’s digital revolution – MTN

What Africa needs to achieve fourth industrial revolution

iamtheCODE Founder advocates for more investment in girls

What workplace skills will get you to the top in the age of AI?

Tech entrepreneur Rapelang Rabana shares her thoughts on the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Challenges that come with the fourth industrial revolution

Tech revolution: Women fight not to lose out

Is disruption the answer to Africa’s challenges?

Worried about being disrupted: Here’s what you can do about it

Balancing growth and sustainability

What the advent of the fourth industrial revolution means for GGDA

Forestry Industrialization Conference debate the future of forestry

4Sight Holdings plans October listing on JSE’s AltX

Understanding WEF’s white paper on accelerating gender parity

The new labour struggle: less work, same pay, and basic income for all

Op ed: Embracing “islandization”: how an unlikely opportunity could help Africa achieve inclusive growth

News Tips

Advertise With Us

fourth industrial revolution

Achieving inclusive growth for SA in the Fourth Industrial Revolution

More needs to be done to advance SA’s digital revolution – MTN

What Africa needs to achieve fourth industrial revolution

iamtheCODE Founder advocates for more investment in girls

What workplace skills will get you to the top in the age of AI?

Tech entrepreneur Rapelang Rabana shares her thoughts on the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Challenges that come with the fourth industrial revolution

Tech revolution: Women fight not to lose out

Is disruption the answer to Africa’s challenges?

Worried about being disrupted: Here’s what you can do about it

Balancing growth and sustainability

What the advent of the fourth industrial revolution means for GGDA

Forestry Industrialization Conference debate the future of forestry

4Sight Holdings plans October listing on JSE’s AltX

Understanding WEF’s white paper on accelerating gender parity

The new labour struggle: less work, same pay, and basic income for all

Op ed: Embracing “islandization”: how an unlikely opportunity could help Africa achieve inclusive growth

News Tips

Advertise With Us

Newsletters