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<p>The realities brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic means, Africa has to re-strategize to meet its development needs. As the African Development Bank enters a new chapter with the re-election and swearing-in of Dr Akinwunmi Adesina,  Martin Fregene, AfDB’s Director for Agriculture and Agro-Industry joins CNBC Africa to discuss what this means for the bank’s agriculture strategy for Africa.</p>


#AfDBAM2020: What’s the next phase for AfDB’s strategy for agriculture?

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<p>The swearing-in ceremony for the newly re-elected President of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina has been concluded in Abidjan Cote div’oire. Chamberlain Peterside, CEO of Xcellon Capital Advisors joins CNBC Africa to examine Nigeria’s economic prospects and the role of development banks in building resilient economies on the continent.</p>


#AfDBAM2020: The role of development banks in building resilient African economies

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<p>Following the re-election of Dr Akinwumi Adesina as the President of the African Development Bank, he has emphasised that his second administration will build on the strong foundations of success in the past five years. Ambassador Harold Doley, First-ever United States Representative to the AfDB joins CNBC Africa’s Kenneth Igbomor to discuss what Adesina’s re-election means for AFDB’s future.</p>


#AfDBAM2020: Ambassador Harold Doley on what Adesina’s re-election means for AfDB’s future

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<p>Following his re-election with a hundred per cent votes Akinwumi Adesina will now serve as President of the African Development Bank for another five years. Amadou Hott, a Governor of the African Development Bank Representing Senegal joins CNBC Africa’s Kenneth Igbomor to discuss what next five years in office will mean for Africa&#8217;s development.</p>


#AfDBAM2020: What Adesina’s re-election means for the next phase of Africa’s development

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<p>One of the expected outcomes of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement is to integrate African economies and therefore create a regional economic bloc of about $3.4 trillion. Moono Mupotola, Director for Regional Integration at the African Development Bank joins CNBC Africa’s Kenneth Igbomor to discuss how Africa can integrate its markets to take full advantage of the AfCFTA in post-COVID-19.</p>


#AfDBAM2020: AfDB on how to best integrate African markets post-COVID-19

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<p>The African Development Bank says for African countries to prepare for a post-COVID–19 world and greatly increase their resilience, governments should address structural bottlenecks that make the continent more vulnerable to future shocks. Kevin Urama, the AfDB’s Senior Director for African Development Institute joins CNBC Africa’s Kenneth Igbomor to discuss how African economies can come out better post-Covid-19.</p>


#AfDBAM2020: AfDB’s Kevin Urama on how Africa can emerge stronger from the COVID-19 crisis

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<p>The African Development Bank through its Industrialization Strategy for Africa looks to double the continent’s Industrial GDP over the next decade. To achieve this goal, the AfDB defined six flagship programs under the industrialization strategy. Solomon Quaynor, the AFDB’s Vice President for the Private Sector, Infrastructure and Industrialization joins me to discuss some wins from the strategy so far and how Africa can rethink its industrialization targets post-COVID-19.</p>


#AfDBAM2020: How Africa can rethink industrialisation after COVID-19

By <span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/wim-naude-780658">Wim Naudé</a>, <em><a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/united-nations-university-694">United Nations University</a></em></span>

<p>Narratives are essential. Humans are, after all, “helpless story <a href="https://psmag.com/social-justice/pulitzer-prizes-journalism-reporting-your-brain-on-story-why-narratives-win-our-hearts-and-minds-79824">junkies</a>”. Business and economic success depend much more than is commonly acknowledged on getting the narrative right. And if there is a narrative where getting it right or wrong matters hugely, it is the narrative about Africa’s industrial development. </p>

<p>Africa is the <a href="https://worldpoverty.io/">poorest</a> continent. It is likely to be the most affected by <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/02/ar4-wg2-chapter9-1.pdf">climate </a>change. It is the continent where <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2018/07/14/the-fight-against-islamic-state-is-moving-to-africa">terrorist</a> groups are spreading fast. </p>

<p>Therefore, African industrialisation is essential. Unfortunately, the dominant narrative is that Africa has been <a href="https://www.odi.org/events/4319-africas-industrialisation-reversing-decline">de-industrialising</a>, even <a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w20935">prematurely</a>. In this narrative, it is also questioned whether Africa can ever industrialise. African countries have even been advised not to <a href="https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/Issues/2018/03/20/world-economic-outlook-april-2018#Chapter%203">try</a>. The World Bank’s <a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/27946">“Trouble in the Making”</a> report concludes that manufacturing is becoming less relevant for low-income countries.</p>

<p>Fortunately, a very different narrative is possible. In a <a href="http://ftp.iza.org/dp12678.pdf">recent paper</a>, I argue that Africa can industrialise because of three factors. These are “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Second-Machine-Age-Prosperity-Technologies/dp/0393350649">brilliant</a>”  new technologies enabling digitisation, smart materials and 3D-printing; a more <a href="https://guardian.ng/business-services/africas-booming-start-up-scene/">vibrant</a> entrepreneurship scene; and Africa’s growing <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/podcast-episode/africas-expanding-middle-class/">middle class</a> (as <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/is-a-growing-middle-class-good-for-the-poor-social-policy-in-a-time-of-globalization/">measured</a> by the share of households that earn between $11 and $110 per person per day), which supports the continent’s first generation of indigenous tech-entrepreneurs.</p>

<p>Consider therefore the following <a href="https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp12678.html">narrative</a>: More than <a href="https://i2ifacility.org/insights/blog/the-rise-of-african-digital-platforms?entity=blog">300</a> digital platforms, mostly indigenous, are operating across the continent. There are also more than <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/tobyshapshak/2019/07/11/africas-booming-tech-hubs-are-backbone-of-tech-ecosystem-having-grown-40-this-year/#10aa3ae524c2">400</a> high-tech hubs, and more are being added. In addition, venture capital funding into African tech start-ups increased <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/05/a-brief-history-of-africa-s-tech-industry-and-7-predictions-for-its-future/">ten-fold </a>between 2012 and 2018. </p>

<p>Moreover, manufacturing has more than doubled in size in real terms since 1980. And since 2000, manufacturing value added has grown at more than 4% a year. That is double the average between 1980 and 2000 (numbers from the <a href="https://www.merit.unu.edu/themes/3-economic-development-innovation-governance-and-institutions/expanded-africa-sector-database-easd-1960-2015/">Expanded</a> African Sector Database). </p>

<p>As a result, total employment in manufacturing in 18 of the largest African economies (for which there is data) grew from roughly 9 million in 2004 to more than 17 million by 2014. That is an 83% increase in ten years. The proportion of labour in manufacturing for Africa as a region grew from roughly 5% in the 1970s to almost 10% by 2008.</p>

<p>So, how will these trends shape the future? I argue that they will result in three varieties of industrialisation. </p>

<h2>Three varieties</h2>

<p>The first variety can be labelled “<em>acquiring traditional manufacturing capabilities</em>”. This variety is <a href="https://www.odi.org/publications/11073-digitalisation-and-future-manufacturing-africa">implied</a> by Overseas Development Institute researchers Karishma Banga and Dirk Willem te Velde. It will be experienced by countries and sectors where technological change is too fast and complex to benefit immediately. These countries and sectors will need time to first put complementary investments in place, while at the same time continuing to promote traditional labour-intensive manufacturing. </p>

<p>The second variety, “<em>fostering sectors with the characteristics of manufacturing</em>”, is elaborated in a recent <a href="https://www.wider.unu.edu/publication/industries-without-smokestacks-2">UNU-WIDER</a> book. Here it is argued that service sectors can take up “the role held by manufacturing in the past”. In many countries, services such as ICT and telecoms, tourism and transport, financial and farming services can lead to productive development.  </p>

<p>The third variety, “<em>resurgent entrepreneurship-led industrialisation</em>” is based on my <a href="https://www.iza.org/publications/dp/11941/brilliant-technologies-and-brave-entrepreneurs-a-new-narrative-for-african-manufacturing">earlier</a> work. I point to the growing list of achievements of African countries in terms of high-tech manufacturing. For example South Africa leads in advanced manufacturing in having  one of the world’s <a href="https://www.businessinsider.co.za/south-africas-largest-3d-printer-is-so-big-that-it-takes-up-to-r75-million-in-titanium-powder-to-fill-it-2018-7">largest</a> 3D-printers, used to manufacture parts for the aviation industry. </p>

<p>Different combinations of these varieties will dominate in different countries. For example, Kenya is already experiencing the simultaneous development of high-tech financial services alongside growth in traditional manufacturing, such as food processing and textiles, as well as clusters of advanced manufacturing. While every country’s pathway will be a unique combination of these varieties, what they will have in common is that progress will require that they deal with the impact of new technology, especially digitisation, on manufacturing.  </p>

<p>To ensure momentum is maintained, the narrative about industrialisation has to change. As Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/04/books/review/21-lessons-for-the-21st-century-yuval-noah-harari.html">pointed</a> out, neither land – the core resource of feudalism – nor physical capital – the core resource of 20th-century capitalism – will be decisive for competitiveness in the future. Instead, data and data science, free information flows, ICT (data) skills, and decentralisation of decision-making will be the decisive factors. </p>

<h2>What needs to be done</h2>

<p>With an outdated story that gives up on manufacturing, Africa will fail to close the huge digital gap it still faces. The gap is reflected in the fact the continent contributes <a href="https://www.cairn.info/revue-questions-de-communication-2017-2-page-345.htm">less</a> than 1% of world’s digital knowledge production. To reduce this gap, African countries will have to start by expanding internet access and use. If internet use across the continent can be expanded to the same rate as in high-income countries, 140 million new jobs and US$2,2 trillion could be <a href="https://oecd-development-matters.org/2018/03/01/how-to-build-inclusive-digital-economies/">added</a> to GDP. </p>

<p>What must be done to change the narrative? What do African governments need to do? The first is that its leaders need to start telling more stories about the future than about the past. Perhaps, like China’s leaders, they can even be inspired by science fiction. British best-selling author <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/24/neil-gaiman-face-facts-need-fiction">Neil Gaiman</a> relates how China started to embrace science fiction after sending a delegation to </p>

<blockquote>
<p>“the US, to Apple, to Microsoft, to Google, and they asked the people there who were inventing the future about themselves. And they found that all of them had read science fiction when they were boys or girls.”</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Helping to imagine the future of African industrialisation, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa recently <a href="https://www.itweb.co.za/content/4r1ly7RoGOVMpmda">stressed</a> that fact that Africa is one of the early adopters of mobile telephony and moreover that the continent needs to aspire to more:</p>

<blockquote>
<p>We need to focus on the new technologies that are going to revolutionise the world, and we need to be ahead of the curve.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>This is the right narrative. It is necessary, although not sufficient for African industrialisation. For this, words need to lead to actions. And some consistent actions, at least for a start, would be for African governments to refrain from creating stumbling blocks for their brave new tech-entrepreneurs, such as curbing access to the internet, restricting digital information flows, under-investing in science, technology, engineering and mathematics education, neglecting data-privacy legislation, and restricting the rights of women to work in manufacturing.<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/125516/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important"></p>

<p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/wim-naude-780658">Wim Naudé</a>, Professorial Fellow, Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (UNU-MERIT), <em><a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/united-nations-university-694">United Nations University</a></em></span></p>

<p>This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/african-countries-cant-industrialise-yes-they-can-125516">original article</a>.</p>

Here’s what can be done to change the narrative about Africa’s industrial development

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<p>With a rapidly growing urban population and industrialisation in Africa, the continent grapples with managing tons of waste produced in its cities every day, resulting into flooding, outbreak of diseases, among others. It is believed that technology could be substantial in helping the continent manage waste effectively. For more on this CNBC Africa is joined by Laban Ngeno, Business Development &#038; Marketing Manager at Ecopost, a social enterprise that is involved in recycling waste plastic to manufacture into eco-friendly plastic lumber profiles.</p>


How technology can help to improve waste management

<p><strong><em>Pretoria, Monday 21 May 2018</em></strong><strong> –</strong> The Human Science Research Council’s 8<sup>th</sup> African Unity for Renaissance International Conference and Africa Day Expo will bring together continental experts to look at the question of Africa’s industrialisation and associated benefits.</p>
<p>Themed <em>Accelerating Industrialisation in Africa: Implications for Job Creation and Poverty Alleviation, </em>the conference at Saint George Hotel in Irene, Pretoria is scheduled from 23<sup>rd</sup> to 24<sup>th</sup> May 2018.  Deliberations will culminate in an Africa Day celebration at Ditsong Museums of South Africa on 25<sup>th</sup> May 2018.</p>
<p>The Conference, which forms part of the South Africa’s Africa Month commemoration, is aimed at bringing together thought leaders and academics who will share their views on the key factors to support the continental vision for industrialisation.</p>
<p>Particular attention will be focused on the global and local policy, institutional regime, hard infrastructure, local and regional economic linkages (e.g. Special Economic Zones), human capital development, national systems of innovation and the role of natural resources endowment which support industrialisation.</p>
<p>According to the Conference Chair, Dr Emmanuel Owusu-Sekyere, Africa’s vision for industrialisation is crucial to the continent’s development agenda articulated in, amongst others, Agenda 2063.</p>
<p>“Industrialisation is at the core of Africa’s development agenda, the core of which is to reduce poverty and inequality through, amongst others, the creation of decent jobs,” said Dr Owusu-Sekyere.</p>
<p>“To enable these objectives, governments, business and civil society in Africa must begin to implement their plans aimed at growing their economies.  This will be crucial to positioning the continent as an investment destination while developing the necessary skills and competencies to beneficiate our collective natural resources.  Delegates at the AUR will look at all of these issues which we hope will begin to influence the relevant policy frameworks,” concluded Dr Owusu-Sekyere</p>
<p>The conference is organised in partnership with the South African Department of Science and Technology (DST), Thabo Mbeki African Leadership Institute (TMALI), Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), City of Tshwane (CoT), International Council for Science – Regional Office for Africa (ICSU), Water Research Commission (WRC), University of South Africa (UNISA), and Ditsong Museum of South Africa.</p>
<p><strong>Discussions are set to proceed under four main broad sub-themes:</strong></p>
<p>Sub-Theme 1: <em>From a comparative to a competitive advantage: Industrialisation and the extractive industry (mining, oil and gas)</em></p>
<p>Sub-Theme 2: <em>Agricultural modernisation</em></p>
<p>Sub-Theme 3: <em>Infrastructure development as an input and outcome of industrialisation</em></p>
<p>Sub-Theme 4: <em>The development of human capital for industrialisation</em></p>
<p><strong>It is also anticipated that the 2018 conference will lead to the following outcomes:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Identification and articulation of major barriers to and main drivers for Africa’s industrialisation.</li>
<li>Improved understanding of how the continent can develop local industrial upstream and downstream linkages in its natural resources sector to enhance its competitive advantage, create employment and poverty reduction.</li>
<li>A deeper understanding of how Africa’s agricultural and infrastructural development deficit can be addressed, including sustainable funding models.</li>
<li>Identification of workable approaches to making all dimensions of human capacity development in Africa relevant to its industrialisation aspirations.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>For full coverage watch CNBC Africa on DStv channel 410, Canal+, Kwese, MultiChoice Africa, and StarTimes Nigeria. You can also access CNBC Africa through our digital live stream<br />
</strong></p>
<p><strong>Date                                        :</strong>           Wednesday 23 May 2018</p>
<p><strong>Time                                        :</strong>           08h50 &#8211; 10h15</p>
<p><strong>Venue                                     :</strong>           Saint George Hotel and Conference Centre, Pretoria</p>


Accelerating industrialisation in Africa

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<p>Renaissance Capital has upgraded its 2018 GDP forecast for Nigeria to 2.9 per cent. Yvonne Mhango, Director, SSA Economist at Renaissance Capital joins CNBC Africa to discuss Nigeria&#8217;s economy.</p>


Renaissance Capital upgrades Nigeria’s GDP growth forecast

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<p>Rotimi Akeredolu, Governor of Nigeria&#8217;s Ondo State said the Nigerian Bar Association&#8217;s Annual General Conference should leave government officials with all they need for a sound blueprint of the country&#8217;s industrialisation.</p>


Ondo State’s Rotimi Akeredolu speaks on NBA conference 2017

<p>Sarah Colenbrander | University of Leeds</p>
<p>Cities in sub-Saharan Africa are growing fast. Nigeria alone is projected to add 212 million urban dwellers by 2050, equivalent to the current population of Germany, France and the UK.</p>
<p>But focusing on population growth leads many to overlook the other unusual features of African cities. Urban economies across the region are markedly different from those of other cities around the world: they are more expensive to live in, more informal and less industrial.</p>
<p>In a recently published paper, we explore how these distinctive traits are increasing vulnerability.</p>
<p>Environmental risks range from everyday hazards such as waterborne diseases (cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery) to larger, less frequent disasters (tropical storms, flooding, fires). Their impact is much greater where people and governments can’t afford to invest in basic infrastructure.</p>
<p>In our research we demonstrate that African cities are too often developing in ways that perpetuate poverty and marginalisation. The amount of money that people have to spend on basic necessities, the precarious nature of their employment and their exclusion from the formal economy mean that they have limited resources to cope with environmental risk.</p>
<p>There are ways around these problems, but they need governments to work much more collaboratively with people living in informal settlements and working in the informal economy.</p>
<p><strong>African cities are expensive</strong></p>
<p>For many, African cities are inextricably linked with poverty. It therefore seems counter-intuitive that the cost of living is higher in urban Africa than in other cities in the global South.</p>
<p>One estimate suggests that food and drink cost 35% more in real terms in sub-Saharan African cities than in other countries, while housing is 55% more expensive.</p>
<p>This means that urban dwellers have to spend more of their income to enjoy the same quality of life. The average urban household in sub-Saharan Africa spends 39% to 59% of its budget on food alone.</p>
<p>Of course, there is considerable variation across the continent. Cities in The Gambia, Mauritania, Madagascar and Tanzania remain relatively affordable. Those in Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi and Mozambique are the most expensive.</p>
<p><div id="attachment_249934" style="width: 650px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-249934" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-249934 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Angola_Luanda_Wikimedia.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="426" /><p id="caption-attachment-249934" class="wp-caption-text">Luanda, Angola: Wikimedia</p></div></p>
<p>The high price of basic goods and services means that people living in African cities have little money to spend on reducing risk, such as upgrading their homes, preventative health care or buying insurance.</p>
<p><strong>African cities are not industrialising</strong></p>
<p>Urbanisation has historically been closely linked to industrialisation. From Detroit to Manchester to Shenzhen, the rise of a vibrant manufacturing sector fuelled rapid population and economic growth in cities.</p>
<p>In sub-Saharan Africa, urbanisation is taking place without industrialisation.</p>
<p>One explanation for this unusual trend is that higher living costs mean that the labour force requires higher wages than competing cities in Asia. This makes it difficult for African cities to attract international capital.</p>
<p>In other cases, the export of commodities such as oil and diamonds have generated high income for a small share of people in countries such as Angola, Nigeria and Libya. The wealthy beneficiaries then create urban employment through demand for non-tradeable services such as retail, transport and construction.</p>
<p>Whatever the driver, urbanisation without industrialisation means that jobs and livelihoods too often remain low-skilled and poorly paid. Without the opportunity to develop skills and organise collectively, workers exert little influence over working conditions.</p>
<p>Instead, urban residents continue to depend on precarious livelihoods in the agricultural and services sectors. This means that they are susceptible to environmental shocks, such as extreme weather that can make it impossible for street vendors, waste pickers and other informal workers to ply their trade.</p>
<p>By comparison, manufacturing jobs have a number of spin offs. They offer income security and skill development. Local employers in the public and private sector benefit from new knowledge and skills, while workers can accumulate capital. This offers a path out of poverty. Few African cities are enjoying these positive spillovers.</p>
<p>The lack of industrialisation also means that there’s little political incentive for governments to invest in risk reducing infrastructure like sewers, drains and all weather roads.</p>
<p><strong>African cities have a large informal economy</strong></p>
<p>In many cities in sub-Saharan Africa, the informal economy is larger and more dynamic than the formal economy. The informal economy responds to demand when commercial banks are not willing to offer loans or when there isn’t enough housing. When formal jobs in industry or services are scarce, the informal economy absorbs much of the labour force. In Cotonou (Benin), Lomé (Togo) and Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), for example, the informal sector accounts for over 80% of non-agricultural employment.</p>
<p>Yet, in many African cities, government policies discriminate against these workers. For example, street vendors and waste collectors are often banned from using public spaces. They may even suffer harassment from government officials.</p>
<p>Yet they play a central role in increasing the resilience of the city.</p>
<p>Waste pickers recycle large amount of material, reducing pollution and maintain city cleanliness. This helps prevent diseases, particularly those spread by bacteria, insects and vermin that might otherwise feed or breed on garbage.</p>
<p>Street vendors play a critical role in providing and producing food, particularly to poor people living in urban areas.</p>
<p><div id="attachment_249942" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-249942" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-249942 size-medium" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Market_Ghana_Wikimedia-300x201.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="201" /><p id="caption-attachment-249942" class="wp-caption-text">Tomato sellers at a market in Ghana: Wikimedia</p></div></p>
<p>The informal economy is not perfect. Informality creates risks for consumers and workers. A lack of state oversight makes it difficult to enforce regulation, such as water treatment standards or minimum wages. Waste pickers in particular face severe health risks due to their work. Informal housing is often in hazard prone parts of the city.</p>
<p>But there can be little doubt that informal service provision or informal livelihoods are better than none at all.</p>
<p>Successful strategies to reduce risk therefore need to be developed in collaboration with informal workers in sectors such as food, water, housing and solid waste management. Similarly, partnerships with communities living in informal settlements can ensure that the voices of vulnerable urban residents are heard, and their needs are addressed.</p>
<p>Only through a more flexible and inclusive approach will African cities be able to manage the risks associated with their unique economic development path.</p>


Op-Ed: The unique risks facing African cities

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<p>Busisiwe Mabuza, Board chairperson of the Industrial Development Corporation shared insight on the continent&#8217;s potential in industrialisation and reform agenda.</p>


IDC’s Busisiwe Mabuza on unlocking Africa industrialisation potential

<p>Uganda plans to spend at least $2 billion in the next five years to connect more people to its electricity grid and raise connection rates, a senior executive at sole power distributor Umeme Ltd said on Thursday.</p>
<p>Ugandan officials say they want to boost electricity supply rapidly to power an industrialisation drive. In recent years they have cut subsidies for consumers and introduced a tariff adjustment mechanism.</p>
<p>The country said in 2015 it planned to increase its electricity generating capacity to at least 1500 megawatts (MW) over the next three years from 850 MW.</p>
<p>Sam Zimbe, deputy managing director of Umeme, said to go hand in hand with this, the country aimed to increase the number of electricity connections to 3 million in the next four years from about 900,000 at present.</p>
<p>&#8220;We intend to spend at least $800 million just on that activity alone, constructing low voltage lines, and looking at last-mile connections,&#8221; Zimbe told an East African power industry conference.</p>
<p>&#8220;Right now we have started the programme. In the first two years for that matter, we plan to spend at least $400 million, half that amount,&#8221; he told Reuters after his presentation.</p>
<p>He said the increased connections would raise the access rate to 40 percent of the population from 20 percent at present.</p>
<p>Zimbe said Uganda planned to spend another $1.2 billion over the next five years to improve other infrastructure on the grid.</p>
<p>&#8220;That is for the backbone infrastructure, in addition to the access programmes. The backbone infrastructure entails new substations, upgrades of the medium voltage lines,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>Uganda&#8217;s peak power demand is about 550 MW but is growing 10-12 percent annually.</p>
<p>Uganda, which expects to start producing oil in the next four years, has an economic growth forecast of 5.5 percent for the fiscal year that started July 1, and forecasts it to rise to 6 to 7 percent in the 2017/18 fiscal year.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>(Reporting by George Obulutsa; Editing by Elias Biryabarema and Alexander Smith)﻿</p>


Uganda to spend $2 bn on power in next five years

<p>The first industrial scale Coltan (Columbite-Tantalite) separation plant in Africa will be built in Rwanda by AB Minerals Corporation, and will become operational in mid-2017. It will bring much needed industrialisation opportunities to the region where the mineral is produced.</p>
<p>Rwanda is currently the number one exporter of Coltan, supplying 50% of the world’s tantalum. Coltan is a dull metallic mineral which is a combination of columbite and tantalite and which is refined to produce tantalum.</p>
<p>Frank Balestra, CEO at AB Minerals Corporation says there is an urgent need to increase the industrialisation of the mining sector throughout Africa, and that the best way to achieve this is through increased technology and high-level skills transfer from more senior industry participants.</p>
<p>“Many of the artisanal &amp; small scale mining companies and cooperatives who represent almost 80 per cent of the total miners in the country, will for the first time be able to sell their ore directly to a local smelter rather than to agents,” he says.   </p>
<p> “The reason most African mineral resources are exported as raw material is due to a low level of industrialisation in the local sector. Bringing Coltan processing directly to the region will bring industrialisation to the country and the mining industry in Rwanda and East Africa,” he says.</p>
<p>Local government will gain an increase in tax revenue through having the mineral concentrate upgraded to high purity oxides, prior to its export from Rwanda.</p>
<p>“This increase in revenue means the country will be able to deploy more funding to other economic sectors throughout the country. This is essential for employment creation and improvement of living conditions of the people,” Balestra says.</p>
<p>This implementation will also create interest in bringing new projects and international investments into Rwanda.﻿﻿</p>
<p>“It will not only create value-added products for export, it will bring significant benefits to the people of Rwanda and those connected to the development of the Coltan industry,” he says, adding that the Rwanda Government, from Rwanda Development Board to the Ministry of Mining are extremely supportive of the project.</p>
<p>AB Minerals will look to hire people in the fields of metallurgy, chemistry, accounting and finance, lab operations, quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC), as well as plant managers and shift managers. During construction of the facility where the processing plant will be located, there will also be employment opportunities.﻿</p>
<p>Construction of the plant will start after a US$1 million production/evaluation run conducted at a major laboratory in the United States. </p>
<p>It will take approximately eight months to construct the plant, and it is expected to be fully operational by the second half of 2017.</p>
<p>(Research and interview by Trust Matsilele, written by Qhama Nokwali)﻿</p>


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industrialisation

#AfDBAM2020: What’s the next phase for AfDB’s strategy for agriculture?

#AfDBAM2020: The role of development banks in building resilient African economies

#AfDBAM2020: Ambassador Harold Doley on what Adesina’s re-election means for AfDB’s future

#AfDBAM2020: What Adesina’s re-election means for the next phase of Africa’s development

#AfDBAM2020: AfDB on how to best integrate African markets post-COVID-19

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Here’s what can be done to change the narrative about Africa’s industrial development

How technology can help to improve waste management

Accelerating industrialisation in Africa

Renaissance Capital upgrades Nigeria’s GDP growth forecast

Ondo State’s Rotimi Akeredolu speaks on NBA conference 2017

Op-Ed: The unique risks facing African cities

IDC’s Busisiwe Mabuza on unlocking Africa industrialisation potential

Uganda to spend $2 bn on power in next five years

Africa’s first Coltan separation plant to be built in Rwanda

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