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vis-à-vis financing industry and production.
Policy and Strategy Viewpoint Historically, Sub-Saharan African government
African countries must develop policies that are policies separated industrial development policy
in tandem with their respective strengths and implementation from government spending
weaknesses by leveraging what they have to get by rationalising the former as “private sector”
what they want. activities. Also, the finance world considers
With the abundance of resources and human industrial development as private sector
capital, there is no reason why African countries affairs without synchronizing nationwide as a
should continue to export raw materials especially collective activity that contributes to the nation’s
when processing technologies are widely available industrialisation status.
and readily acquirable in this information age. I see policy inconsistency and the adoption of
In the past century or so, Sub-Saharan Africa a-one-size-fits-all approach as major contributors
countries have experimented with a handful of to this disconnect. A new approach should be
industrial development policies from Import based on the philosophy that national development
Substitution Policy to Backward Integration, derives from national needs, national attitude to
Technology Transfer to Technology Acquisition, those needs and values placed on the National
Value Addition and other drastic actions of Industrial Development project.
indigenizing across industries. Even these
initiatives are poorly managed, abandoned or Technology View Point
monopolized by a few privileged individuals. A 2014 United Nations report classifies nations
Although these policies have had their merits, as:
lessons learnt are quickly forgotten during the • Developed economies,
making of yet other development policies that are • Economies in transition, and
often fueled by agitated and animated economists • Developing economies
and political personas. Sub-Saharan African All African countries but South Africa are
governments are always too quick to switch considered “developing economies” which is a
from one policy viewpoint to another without seemingly complementary glorification of the
consideration of national peculiarities and the bleakness of Africa’s comparative development
recognition that no one size can fit all. status.
In 2016, the Strategic Emerging Industries What impact does technology have on
catalogue gave an indication of China’s industrial industrialisation? Can a nation be industrialised
and technological development blueprint for the without its own technology? Can a nation develop
following 5‐year period. The catalogues are key industrially without developing technologically?
in transmitting policies in a way that harmonizes Can a nation develop based on acquired
the plan with the transition status achievements. technology? Unfortunately, the answers are not as
This is a strategy Africans must adopt because simplistic as the questions seem.
it will provide a fundamental template to define Africa must now decide to chase development
their goals, and pin their objectives to respective with a view to grabbing it even from the
resource endowments and nuances. By applying rudimentary and strive towards advancing from
strategic policies, Africa will not only accelerate that point. China did it, India did it and even
the industrialisation process but be deliberate Vietnam is doing so now. African countries must
in enhancing the development of technology, first crawl, then walk before running. This starts
addition of value and reduction in dependencies. with becoming technologically aware, learning
It is a given that industrial development is the to design and then produce basic machines for
creation of technology and common sense. It is processing basic commodities such as food crops,
also a given that industry and technology cannot cash crops, mineral resources and agricultural raw
flourish in a state of financial paucity. The question materials.
has always been who should finance technology Today, we are in an Internet age. Therefore it is

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