Industrialisation is tool for sustainable economic growth in Africa, say experts

Former National Economic Adviser to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, and Director, Institute of Development Studies (IDS), University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, Professor Osita Ogbu, has  identified productivity as the basis for sustainable economic growth in Africa.
       He opined  that for African countries to achieve that,  the economy should be designed in a way that wealth is adequately distributed and not concentrated.
Ogbu made this known in a Keynote address he presented at the 2018 international conference on” Sustainable Economic Growth in Africa ” organized by a research institution,  African Heritage Institution, Enugu. He said that one sure way of doing so is by ensuring massive development of the industrial sector and technological acquisition in the African countries. . 
        According to him,” for countries to achieve  sustainable economic growth, they must introduce industrial parks. Banks should concentrate resources on few important sectors with bias towards the productivity sector. Africa needs intelligent leadership that understands sustainable growth.”
He was of the view that Africa should adopt and occupy a space  China has left at the low end  of manufacturing, saying, “Since we have few venture capitalists, government should step into this space and invest in profitable ventures”.
      On his part, another keynote speaker at the conference , Rev Fr. (Prof) Hyacinth Ichoku, of the department of economics, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, lamented that the problem African countries have is their inability to  diversify their  economy. 
 He noted that  Africa has several challenges in achieving inclusive and sustainable economic growth. These challenges  stem from the region’s inability to  restructure and diversity its economy by adapting to production processes that promote environment sustainability and social  inclusiveness.    
      According to him,  restructuring the economy of the countries of the region would require more investment and emphasis on labor intensive rather than capital intensive production process as it is currently the case. 
       He observed that most current sources of economic growth such as mineral extraction, and  oil drilling are capital intensive and depend on imported capital. This he said,  creates and sustains environmental degradation and high levels of income  inequality as the returns to capital circulate among only very few members of the population who have access to capital and foreign investors who must repatriate capital back to their home countries. 
    .The cleric noted that currently Africa has very poor educational and health records which have contributed to high poverty rate in the continent Ill–heath , according to him, reduces productivity and increases absenteeism. 
      He observed that in many countries in the region like Nigeria, informal sector accounts for over 80% of new jobs . “There is also the need to formalize the informal sector to regulate the working conditions of the workers in the informal sector who often are slaved by the employers”, he said.        The University Don also pointed out  that inclusive growth will reduce unplanned population growth and lead to demographic transition which is required to put the economies of the countries of the region on the path to sustainable growth.
   He  said d that currently the population growth in African countries  if not well managed could constitute a major challenge. “African countries are challenged by infrastructural, technological and human capacity inadequacies. However, these challenges also present opportunities for African countries to take the path of sustainable and inclusive growth in their early stages of development”, he stated. 
The guest speaker posited that redistribution and inclusive economic growth can catalyse sustainable economic growth.
      According to him, a means to achieving inclusive economic growth is by providing productive employment and decent work for everyone.
The cleric therefore advised  African countries to focus on labour intensive industrial growth in order to create jobs and opportunities to carry everyone along.
     In his opening remark,  the Executive Director of AfriHeritage, Professor Ufo Okeke-Uzodike, tasked  African economists to come up with ideas that would uplift economies across the continent, and help to effect transformative change that can move the region away from extreme poverty. According to him, despite significant improvements in policy spaces across the region, Africa continues to experience serious challenges due to highly uneven economic growth patterns.
Also contributing, Dr Ulama, a researcher at Afriherritage and other experts in the field of development and applied economics said , full industrialisation and massive job creation were  necessary indices for sustainable economic growth in Africa.
Scholars, who participated at the conference, were drawn from within and outside the country.