Localisation for Africa
Dr. Shawn Cunningham is a development consultant focused on ways to improve the performance and competitiveness of the private sector in developing countries by combining a bottom-up perspective with systemic policy advocacy. He develops practical diagnostic instruments by integrating insights from process facilitation, change management and understanding how societies evolve and develop. His qualifications are in business management; entrepreneurship and change management while his PhD thesis investigated the role of market failures affecting transactions in knowledge intensive business services.
He has published books on several topics related to economic development. Dr. Cunningham started his career as an entrepreneur but soon became involved in the promotion of entrepreneurship and economic development. He works as a consultant, facilitator and moderator on topics related to economic and private sector development in Africa, Asia and Europe. He is currently working on several assignments ranging from the fostering of closer collaboration between industries and science and technology institutions in the southern African region and training officials and experts on practical development methods in more than 20 countries. His main academic research and consulting practice is around the topic of upgrading and modernising economic sectors by stimulating sectoral and regional innovation systems.
Dr. Shawn Cunningham shawn @ cunningham. org. za
He is a partner in the international consultancy Mesopartner( registered in Germany), whose practical development instruments are used in more than 70 countries around the world. He holds several board and advisory positions and directorships in businesses and developmental institutions in southern Africa and internationally. He is also known to provide his time and expertise to a variety of public and social causes. He is a Post Doctoral Fellow at the Vaal University of Technology and a Research Associate at the Institute for Economic Research on Innovation at Tshwane University of Technology.
This will take some clever business thinking. A point of concern is that both public and private procurement drives are targeting a small pool of competitive manufacturers.
Due to public procurement pressure, there simply is not enough time to develop local manufacturers. For this reason, a select group specialised and competent firms are being identified and drawn into local procurement initiatives, often giving up other business within local supply chains. Thus our local manufacturing sector is becoming more concentrated and more isolated from export markets to local markets.
While this is great from a short-term profitability perspective, we also face increased risks of being further isolated from global developments in markets and technologies. Manufacturers that are not able to secure the continuity of their supply chain are suddenly caught off guard without key local suppliers.
Due to time pressures, these same firms then shift their orders off-shore, as nobody can afford to spend time nurturing new manufacturers to grow and become competent.
In conclusion, it is my view that we must also guard against an ideology of localisation along the lines of import substitution, in other words, localization at all costs.
For the private sector, stronger and more competitive supply chains is a strategic choice, not an ideology. The private sector must develop their local supply chains to strengthen their competitive advantage and to secure their business continuity.
For the public sector, the orders that are localised should be about creating new or unique local capacity that lays the foundations for expansion and exports. LFA
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