RE-IMAGINING AND RE-ENGINEERING AFRICA ’ S FUTURE
an exporter of raw materials .
How did Vietnam , with a population of 95 million , emerge from a 20-year civil war to lift more than 40 % of her population out of poverty between 2002 and 2018 , developing a manufacturing base that spans textiles , agriculture , furniture , plastics , paper , tourism and telecommunications ? It has emerged as a manufacturing powerhouse , becoming the world ’ s third-largest exporter of textiles and garments ( after China and Bangladesh ). Vietnam is also the second largest coffee producer and the top producer of Robusta coffee in the world .
Since the onset of the US-China trade war and now the COVID-19 pandemic more manufacturers are moving their base to Vietnam .
Vietnam currently exports over 10 million tonnes of rice , coming third after India and China . In 2016 , exports to Ghana , at the time the second largest buyer of Vietnamese rice , surged nearly 40 percent to 350,000 tons . Shipments to Angola , another potential market , rose 4.6 times in volume and 3.6 times in value in the same year .
Ghana ’ s demand for rice is around 1.6 million tons per year and the country depends on imports to cover more than half of that amount . In 2019 , Ghana top trading partners for rice were Vietnam with a share of 71 % ( 268 million US $); Thailand with a share of 16.1 % ( 60 million US $); India with a share of 4.2 % ( 15.7 million US $).
To ensure national food security amid the covid-19 pandemic Vietnam stopped the export of rice on 24th March , resuming exports on 11th April 11 . This affected a lot of importing countries , including several West African countries .
Food security is quickly becoming an urgent issue as the world ’ s population is increasing and natural disasters are becoming more frequent .
The pandemic has exposed Africa . African leaders need to reflect and think deeply to formulate long-term strategies to address the weaknesses that this pandemic has revealed . They must ask themselves where they want to position the continent in the next thirty years and beyond .
WHAT THEN SHOULD BE DONE ?
Africans need to move away from the commodity-driven model which has failed in creating prosperity .
With a consumer base of 1.3 billion and $ 3.3 trillion market under the African Continental Free Trade Area ( AfCFTA ), the continent must bring together its fragmented markets .
Be it feeding its own people or building industrial powerhouses led by African champions , the Africa of tomorrow must look inwards for its solutions . Perhaps this pandemic can herald structural transformation in the continent .
It ’ s an opportune time for Africa to execute structurally trans formative projects that generate positive outcomes for the country along with social returns . Africa needs to address its weaknesses , build on its strengths . It must build better private and public institutions , strengthen weak ones and set up new ones that are missing .
Wake up Africa , cease the opportunity that this pandemic has presented .
Logistics for transporting capital and consumer goods across the region need predictable structures . To achieve this private and public institutional challenges such as custom regulations need to be restructured and long-term regulations and agreements put in place so supply chains can be strengthened .
Roman philosopher Seneca once said : “ Luck is what happens when preparation meet opportunity .”
ACTION is the part missing from this quote . Opportunity and preparation without action is pointless . Action is what you get when you avail yourself to the opportunity and do something .
Luck isn ’ t just about being at the right place at the right time , but also about being open to , ready for , and taking advantage of the new opportunities .
For African leader ’ s it ’ s about being skilled at creating and noticing chance opportunities and adopting a resilient attitude that transforms this pandemic into a good opportunity . Countries must pool all the knowledge , experience and resources at their disposal for the good of the continent . There is probably no better time to fast track change than now .
This is a chance to accelerate transformation and even leapfrog . Calls for debt relief is just like placing a band-aid to a wound that requires surgery . Something much more ambitious and radical should be envisaged .
This crisis allows Africa to think big . This is an ideal time for collective action within Africa and with the rest of the world to reimagine and re-engineer Africa ’ s future .
It only seems impossible until it ’ s done , said the late Nelson Mandela , a very apt statement for Africa .
Shaun Jayaratnam is a sales and marketing , business development and operations management professional with over 25 years of experience in several industries He has worked in Russia , Ukraine , Africa and Asia . Connect with him on Linkedin .
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