<p>By Sabine Dall’Omo, CEO for Siemens Southern and Eastern Africa</p>
<p>The value of data coupled with connected infrastructure and industrial ecosystems offers Africa a remarkable opportunity to create smart factories of the future. Data will be at the heart of reinvigorating Africa’s industrial prowess, creating new industries and an entirely new set of jobs that previously did not exist.</p>
<p>Historically, Africa’s growth has been defined by its abundance in natural and mineral resources but digitalization will change this. It will tip the scales of Africa’s economic outlook more towards exports emanating from the manufacturing sector, with the textile vertical being the prime example. Developing factories of the future will boost Africa’s GDP and catapult its international competitiveness by merging both the physical and virtual worlds. The future will now be defined by how Africa harnesses its manufacturing potential and how it moves the industrial revolution forward.</p>
<p>The continent’s unique identity and extraordinary sense of creativity could be what puts us on the global map. The Afro-inspired design revolution taking shape is an opportunity to take our ingenuity to the world, and with skills development the continent will see a new industry emerge. The combination of smart hardware and intelligent software could help position Johannesburg, Nairobi or Lagos as the next design capital of the world.</p>
<p>The Siemens FABRIC showcase, launched at the end of August, is a testament to the talent Africa holds. Told through the universal language of fashion, FABRIC was a powerful project that demonstrated how data combined with technology could transform African cities. Three iconic African fashion designers (John Kaveke, Zizi Cardow and Palesa Mokubung) created one-of-kind outfits weaving in data extracted from these three African cities to tell a unique story about each of them. These are the kind of edgy collections that have gained the attention and admiration of the international fashion community, taking all three designers to renowned fashion shows across the world. But despite recognition on the global catwalk, the economic output from the apparel industry in Africa has not been grand in the last few years. However through digitalization, Africa’s dynamic fashion sense could become a global hit.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Urbanization</strong></p>
<p>As urbanization rapidly increases, so too does the demand in products and services. In the last few years, manufacturers have had to shorten throughput times to keep up with the increasing trend of individualised mass production and at the same time reduce their energy and raw material consumption. Now is the time for manufacturers to relook at rising production costs and determine how to safeguard their competitiveness.</p>
<p>As connectivity changes the world and how we communicate, the manufacturing industry will also need to adapt. Transforming into factories of the future will be a smart step because intelligent machines will effectively respond to changing market and customer needs, and enable manufacturers to pick up on inefficiencies quickly. The industrial internet of things (IIOT) will be the foundation of production, ensuring machine to machine communication and automation while real-time data boosts productivity and revenue. Digitalization will transform workforces and contribute to the entire value chain while ensuring safe, reliable operations.</p>
<p>According to a Frost &amp; Sullivan White Paper by the Manufacturing Leadership Council, the manufacturing industry will look completely different in the next 10 to 15 years as industries become high-tech engines of mass customization.</p>
<p>“Highly automated and information-intensive, the factory of tomorrow will look like an integrated hardware and software system…fuelled by vast quantities of information from every corner of the enterprise and beyond, moderated by analytical systems that can identify and extract insights and opportunities from that information, and comprise of intelligent machines that learn, act, and work alongside highly skilled human beings.”</p>
<p>Through research and insights, Siemens acknowledges the vast potential and possibilities for Africa’s future through manufacturing and has already been hard at work creating technologies for smart factories. It has created flexible, modular, economic automation and drive solutions to help industries transform easily. Its single-source solution maximises production and minimises downtime and has the capability to cover all facets of a textile plant from the production of chemical fibres and yarn to spinning, fabric manufacturing and finishing. It’s cost-effectiveness in configuration and commissioning makes it a manufacturer’s dream. Industrialisation will additionally bridge the gap between blue and white collar workers creating an upskilled workforce termed ‘grey-collar’ workers. This dynamic and developed staff contingent will be able to execute their duties with ease in the digital economy, alongside machines.</p>
<p>This transformation will push the continent onto another level that amplifies GDP, while creating a smarter Africa for all. The role of data architecture in this metamorphosis cannot be magnified enough, and with the exponential value of industrialization, Africa’s development could be fast tracked to tip the scales of its economic potential. The only element left will be active collaboration between government, regulators, business and society.</p>


OpEd: How to transform Africa’s manufacturing industry through data

<p>ACCRA (Reuters) &#8211; Ghana is considering a century bond worth $50 billion as part of the West African nation’s plan to secure long-term funding to build critical infrastructure for industrial development, its leader said.</p>
<p>“The Ministry of Finance and economists in Ghana are looking at floating a $50 billion century bond. This will provide us with the resources to finance our infrastructural and industrial development,” President Nana Akufo-Addo said during a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.</p>
<p>Reporting by Kwasi Kpodo; Editing by Toby Chopra</p>


This West African country is considering a century bond worth $50 bln to finance infrastructure development

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<p>The African development Bank starting in 2007, loaned more than 670 million dollars to the Republic of Kenya and Ethiopia, to construct the Nairobi &#8211; Addis Ababa road corridor linking both countries. How is this infrastructure accelerating cross border trades and impacting lives?</p>


How Nairobi-Addis Ababa road corridor has helped boost trade in East Africa

<p>NAIROBI (Reuters) &#8211; Ethiopia needs $7.5 billion to finish infrastructure projects such as a massive dam and roads that the government hopes will drive industrialisation, the new prime minister said on Friday.</p>
<p>Speaking to parliament before its vote on the 2018/19 budget, Abiy Ahmed said the government needed to be more efficient and prudent in its spending of public funds. He said many state-owned enterprises were heavily indebted and export earnings were a third of the $10 billion annual target.</p>
<p>Abiy took office in April and has pledged sweeping political and economic reforms.</p>
<p>Writing by Maggie Fick; Editing by Duncan Miriri and Alison Williams</p>


In order to complete infrastructure projects, Ethiopia needs $7.5 billion

<p>* Countries require $2.4 tln to meet needs, U.N. goals</p>
<p>* Investments fall short under current trend</p>
<p>* Fighting corruption, reforms key to attracting capital</p>
<p>By Joe Bavier</p>
<p>JOHANNESBURG, July 3 (Reuters) &#8211; A group of 10 African nations, including some of the continent’s rising economic stars, will fall $1 trillion short of the infrastructure financing required to meet U.N.ited development goals by 2040, a study released on Tuesday found.</p>
<p>The report by the Global Infrastructure Hub (GIH) of the G20 wealthy and developing nations exposes the challenges facing one of the world’s least developed regions. But it also highlights the opportunities for investors willing to take the plunge.</p>
<p>“Africa is a fascinating continent for investors,” GIH Chief Executive Chris Heathcote told Reuters. “They’re not saying ‘Am I going to Africa?’. They’re saying ‘I am going to Africa. I want to go to Africa. Which country should I go to?’”</p>
<p>The GIH report focuses on Morocco, Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Egypt, Ghana, Tunisia, Benin, Guinea and Rwanda &#8211; all participants in the G20’s ‘Compact with Africa’ initiative, which aims to channel investment to the continent.</p>
<p>To keep pace with success stories such as Vietnam in terms of developing roads, railways, airports, sea ports, electricity, water and physical telecommunications infrastructure these nations will require investments of $2 trillion through 2040.</p>
<p>Meeting the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals, which call for universal access to power and water by 2030, would require $383 billion in additional investment, the study found, bringing the total to around $2.4 trillion.</p>
<p>If they maintain their current average investment level of 4.9 percent of gross domestic product, that would leave the 10 countries with a 42 percent funding gap to fill.</p>
<p>African nations do not have the resources to ramp up infrastructure spending on their own, even with backing from aid agencies and multilateral donor institutions, Heathcote said, and so attracting private sector investment is essential.</p>
<p>Major international conglomerates including Bouygues , Bollore, China Railway Construction Corp and General Electric are already active in African power, transportation and construction.</p>
<p>A pool of potential infrastructure financing was now poised to enter Africa under the right conditions, Heathcote said.</p>
<p>“There is a wall of money being held by the pension funds. They are looking more and more at emerging market infrastructure,” he said.</p>
<p>Unleashing that money, however, will require clamping down on the corruption and inefficiencies that have long hindered large-scale investment in Africa.</p>
<p>Heathcote points to Rwanda, where private investment represents two thirds of infrastructure spending, as an example of how it can be done right.</p>
<p>“They worked out that if you run transparent processes, if you have clear regulation that allows you to understand what your outcomes are likely to be in the long-term in your contracts, then investors will look very seriously at you.” (Reporting by Joe Bavier Editing by Edmund Blair)</p>


Why ten African countries could fall short of $1 trillion infrastructure financing

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<p>What target sectors can speed up inclusive and sustainable growth in Nigeria? Dave Uduanu, CEO of Sigma Pensions says the key is to look to infrastructure, manufacturing, housing and value-added services.</p>


Promoting inclusive  growth in Nigeria

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<p>Mobile-first consumer feedback platform mSurvey has secured $3.5 million in Series A investment to scale it’s infrastructure and partnerships across the region.</p>


mSurvey secures $3.5mn Series A investment

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<p>The Rwandan government identified six secondary cities for the promotion of urban development outside of the capital city. In line with efforts to boost infrastructure in these cities.</p>


Rwanda’s plan to develop its secondary cities

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<p>Ogun state’s mission to rebuild comprises of five cardinal programs. CNBC Africa’s Christycole Popoola caught up with the state’s governor Ibikunle Amosun to discuss the state&#8217;s plan for industrial revolution and more.</p>


Governor Amosun reveals his plan to rebuild Ogun State

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<p>Anthony Eke, Acting Divisional Head, Infrastructure and Transport at Diamond Bank joins CNBC Africa to discuss Nigeria&#8217;s infrastructure plans for industrial growth.</p>


Analysing Nigeria’s infrastructure plan

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<p>According to Nigeria&#8217;s Minister of budget and planning Udo Udoma, the government is seeking to raise the stock of infrastructure to at least 70 percent of GDP by 2043. However, funding remains a challenge.</p>


How to best fund Nigeria’s infrastructure projects

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<p>A recent survey by the East African Institute and the Aga Khan University found that Nairobi’s food system is fragile due poor infrastructure such as water and sanitation. With the city being among the fastest growing in terms of urbanisation in Africa, experts warn that insufficient connectivity and basic amenities are continually increasing the cost of food for urban households. Alex Awiti, Director of the East African Institute joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Survey exposes Nairobi’s fragile food system

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<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

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<p>Nigeria plans to allocate 30.8 per cent of the 2018 budget to capital expenditure, while N3.5 trillion will be spent on recurrent expenditure. With the bulk of the 2018 spending budget dedicated to infrastructure development and security.</p>


Nigeria’s 2018 budget: Who gets what, and why?

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<p>In Rwanda, Kigali city provides 54 per cent of formal jobs while secondary cities only provide 12 per cent. This calls for distribution of infrastructures and services as well as effective planning for sustainable urban development.</p>


Why proper urban planning is crucial for the development of Rwanda’s cities

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<p>Amani Abou-Zeid, Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy at the African Union says Africa needs about 90 billion dollars annually for the next 10 years to bridge its Infrastructure deficit.</p>


Africa needs about $90bn yearly to meet infrastructure needs – AU

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<p>Anthony Eke, Acting Divisional Head of Infrastructure and Transport at Diamond Bank joins CNBC Africa to discuss how Nigeria can develop its airport infrastructure.</p>


infrastructure

OpEd: How to transform Africa’s manufacturing industry through data

This West African country is considering a century bond worth $50 bln to finance infrastructure development

How Nairobi-Addis Ababa road corridor has helped boost trade in East Africa

In order to complete infrastructure projects, Ethiopia needs $7.5 billion

Why ten African countries could fall short of $1 trillion infrastructure financing

Promoting inclusive growth in Nigeria

mSurvey secures $3.5mn Series A investment

Rwanda’s plan to develop its secondary cities

Governor Amosun reveals his plan to rebuild Ogun State

Analysing Nigeria’s infrastructure plan

How to best fund Nigeria’s infrastructure projects

Survey exposes Nairobi’s fragile food system

What Africa needs to achieve fourth industrial revolution

Nigeria’s 2018 budget: Who gets what, and why?

Why proper urban planning is crucial for the development of Rwanda’s cities

Africa needs about $90bn yearly to meet infrastructure needs – AU

Upgrading Nigeria’s airport infrastructure

News Tips

Advertise With Us

infrastructure

OpEd: How to transform Africa’s manufacturing industry through data

This West African country is considering a century bond worth $50 bln to finance infrastructure development

How Nairobi-Addis Ababa road corridor has helped boost trade in East Africa

In order to complete infrastructure projects, Ethiopia needs $7.5 billion

Why ten African countries could fall short of $1 trillion infrastructure financing

Promoting inclusive growth in Nigeria

mSurvey secures $3.5mn Series A investment

Rwanda’s plan to develop its secondary cities

Governor Amosun reveals his plan to rebuild Ogun State

Analysing Nigeria’s infrastructure plan

How to best fund Nigeria’s infrastructure projects

Survey exposes Nairobi’s fragile food system

What Africa needs to achieve fourth industrial revolution

Nigeria’s 2018 budget: Who gets what, and why?

Why proper urban planning is crucial for the development of Rwanda’s cities

Africa needs about $90bn yearly to meet infrastructure needs – AU

Upgrading Nigeria’s airport infrastructure

News Tips

Advertise With Us

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