By Olufowokan Oludotun Oyejola
The Welding Federation as Africa’s frontline body for building and sustaining manufacturing capacities across industries in Africa, participated in the 2022 edition of Cameroon’s SDG seminar with the theme ” The Respect and Implementation of Industry Norms Through Training and Certification Inline With National Development Strategy of Cameroon Towards Agenda 2030″
Hosted by the Prime Minister of Cameroon through the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises, TWF was represented by its Executive Director, Ayo Adeniyi.
In his lecture, he reviewed technical details of norms relevant to growing manufacturing in Cameroon and proferred guide on how to domesticate implementation of relevant norms.
Mr Ayo’s lecture gave a technical exposition on TWF as a continental body, and how TWF’s systems and schemes for building and sustaining manufacturing in Africa, addresses domestication of norms in cameroon, driving best practices locally, and building a manufacturing workforce of skilled persons relevant to both local and continental space opportunities in materials manufacturing.
Ayo posited in his presentation that wisely, local national content was fast giving way to African Content as a more sustainable economic model in the face of growing awareness and constantly mutating nature of the materials manufacturing industry.
He commended Cameroon’s national interest to grow manufacturing and access opportunities in the continental market as being very much complimentary to market realities.
He explained that while the market need exists, the existing financial heamorage and employment deficits which plague national economies in Africa is primarily due to lack of integrated capacities and skilled workforce.
He added that the future of economic and employment sustainability for Africans is in Africa as a block, not a regional municipality. The opportunities continent wise are more self sustaining and complimentary to national economies,than self limiting frameworks implemented via poor understanding of local content.
He reiterated that Africa boast an impressive US $3 trillion opportunities economy from a 2020 valuation. Over 50% of this opportunity value chain he stressed is lost and might never be accessible to Africans due to steady importation of manufactured products , industrial machinery and transport equipment. The impact of the opportunity losses he asserted is common across all African economies.
This narrative he claimed can best be addressed through a well coordinated integration of sub level variables, applicable to Africa’s manufacturing industry.
TWF’s primary purpose is building, integrating and sustaining materials manufacturing across Africa with her pool of manufacturing systems and schemes .