Africa’s Industrialization: A Solution to Unemployment Challenges

THE EVOLUTION OF INDUSTRIALIZATION

Pre-industrial revolution started in the 16th – 19th centuries in Europe and America, with improvement of standard of living of their citizens through agricultural boom, cultivated by slaves. Some pre-industrial economies like classical Athens, Roman civilization, and the medieval Islamic (caliphate) states were all able to source for better standard of living for their people through agriculture.

However, developed economies such as the United Kingdom, America, France, Germany, Russia and Asian Tigers had their take-off stages of industrialization from agriculture and commerce. This dispensation facilitated unprecedented population growth with equilibrium workforce in farming to harness the existing economic potentials that triggered developmental growth.

Industrialization simply means imploring scientific methodology in human and material resources for the socio-economic benefit of a nation. This new discovery implies a radical change that brings an improvement in the standard of living of citizens. Thus, the aforementioned countries have been able to seize this opportunity of scientific research to better the lives of their citizens and subsequently position themselves on the global map.

Having said that, Africa (Egyptian civilization) was the cradle of civilization dating back from the 14th to 15th century. By implication, Egypt experienced agricultural revolution before the Western world did. The accumulation of capital allowed for stronger agricultural investment in scientific core areas of technology to dominate the world economy, enabling industrialization in other countries like Hungary, Austria, Poland and many other European countries to move upward in the 1880s.

The Asian continent, in immersing industrialization in the 1870s through military might, had greater influence on economic reconstruction that promoted technological industrial development which eventually transformed and snowballed into entrepreneurial evolution that triggered economic growth in the 19th century. In the era of the Cold War, European nations such as Spain and Italy experienced moderate industrialization during the 1950s and 1970s which integrated the European economy through their levels of development as well as those of the socialist European countries.

INDUSTRIALIZATION IN AFRICA

Most African countries did not follow the footprint of Egypt. They rather relied on poor farming systems that could barely feed more than three families. Although there was a resemblance of governance for most African states, this governance was not knowledgeable enough to drive the concept of development through agriculture that could have been the platform for industrialization. During the pre-colonial state of Africa, we prided ourselves or masqueraded in peasant farming before the coming of colonial masters who divided Africans within Western colonies of their choice.

The first industrialization that took place in Africa was on arable agricultural produce driven by colonial commerce in exchange of slaves and cowries as a medium of exchange. At the abrogation of slave trade by the United States Federal Law (The Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves) in 1807, which took effect in 1808, Africa was given leverage for looking upward for the emancipation from past setbacks resulting from such continental abuse and degradation imposed on Africans.

Africans started looking toward economic and technological empowerment at the instance of the colonial masters who came to impose their own foreign business and political ideologies. This led to another delay in the development of the continent. During the colonial era, Africa, under the supervision of the Western world, started imbibing cultural imperialism in the areas of commerce, technology, manual skill acquisition, education, and language. While advanced skills in technology were kept from their reach, in the areas of power/energy, construction and economy, Africa has moved forward fairly.

This takeoff stage commenced but was short-lived after the independence of African countries, leaving Africa to inwardly drive its own self-reliance development process toward industrialization. This has remained a solidarity movement with vast potential on the continent to springboard if harnessed properly. In spite of the foregoing, Africa still remains a fertile potential continent for massive technological advancement and development if priority is given to economic policies that will wheel growth.

CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES AND JOB CREATION

In the 21st century, Nigeria, South Africa, Angola and other potential African states are on the path to industrialization. While the Western states are gradually migrating to the continent of Africa to harness her investment potential in order to advance wealth for their continent, every country of the world had to advance their technological and economic base to attain development and create job opportunities for their citizens.

In the late 1990s, President Obasanjo, in his eight years of leadership as Nigerian President, created an economic platform for entrepreneurial revolution and industrialization of the economy. Such measures included opening up of the petroleum sector to investors, deregulation of telecommunications in Nigeria that empowered small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs), job creation, and social development. The establishment of NigComSat was another milestone in the quest for industrialization and a pivotal factor in the growth of the Nigerian economy, bridging the unemployment gaps experienced in the 1990s to early 2000s.

However, it is a reality that Africans are grossly unemployed, a situation where the workable age bracket cannot be gainfully employed. Africa is blessed with natural and human resources that are yet to be explored as economic goods. Industrialization is a factor of qualitative research on science, technology, and entrepreneurial development with a proven marketing mix. Africa has these potentials to industrialize if only African leaders are purpose-driven.

CONCLUSION

The present economic recession experienced early in 2017 to the first quarter of 2018 in the country was due to a lack of industrial and developmental ideology to revolutionize gains from internally generated revenue (IGR) and foreign earnings, as was seen during the oil boom and indigenization era of the 1970s. Industrialization is an economic engine that energizes wealth for socio-structural development, advanced technological growth and broad economic empowerment.

A nation is said to be underdeveloped when she is yet to align with the current global digital era, when her per capita income is less than a dollar, and when there is an alienation of the middle class, unpractical economic policies, and short life span of citizens due to poor health facilities and poverty. The quest for development is not a sentimental nor mediocratic call; it is a call for selfless service to national duties and must take center stage at all levels of leadership.

A positive impact of industrialization on any economy is the improvement of disposable income of its citizens. This implies free flow of wealth, reduced inflation, and the elimination of high unemployment ratios. When this happens, Africa will be able to compete in the long run with the industrialization matrix, forcing every socio-economic and political index to automate itself into massive development. Industrialization will enhance modern challenges such as changes in lifestyle, educational improvement, efficient medical services, and urbanized transportation systems, which are the hallmarks of socio-economic advancement.