AFRICA outlook
It’s that time of year again where we prepare for the visit of the man in the red suit, power shortages (if you’re in South Africa and have to rely on Eskom), the peak of summer, and of course the annual shutdowns. It’s also that time where you refl ect on the past year, 12 months in which a meteor exploded over Russia, a new Pope was appointed and of course Edward Snowden blew the lid on a mass U.S. surveillance operation, a story that continues to run.
It’s that time of year again
where we prepare for the
visit of the man in the red suit,
power shortages (if you’re
in South Africa and have to
rely on Eskom), the peak of
summer, and of course the
annual shutdowns. It’s also that
time where you refl ect on the
past year, 12 months in which a
meteor exploded over Russia,
a new Pope was appointed and
of course Edward Snowden
blew the lid on a mass U.S.
surveillance operation, a story
that continues to run.
Erfolgreiche ePaper selbst erstellen
Machen Sie aus Ihren PDF Publikationen ein blätterbares Flipbook mit unserer einzigartigen Google optimierten e-Paper Software.
FOREWORD<br />
Manufacturing<br />
Writer Coenraad Bezuidenhou<br />
executive director, Manufacturing Circle<br />
in South Africa<br />
t has become clear<br />
to all that if Africa<br />
wants to leverage its<br />
population dynamics<br />
adequately for<br />
sustainable growth over the next<br />
decade, the continent needs to<br />
rapidly expand and build out its<br />
manufacturing base. South Africa<br />
may by far be the most industrialised<br />
of all African economies, but its<br />
relative position has been slipping<br />
and much work needs to be done for<br />
manufacturing to regain the strong<br />
foothold it once had here on the<br />
continent’s southern tip.<br />
The Manufacturing Circle has made<br />
it its mission to converse with our<br />
There are<br />
numerous<br />
opportunities for the<br />
situation to improve<br />
for manufacturers in<br />
South Africa over the<br />
next couple of years”<br />
government on issues that challenged<br />
the survival and growth of many of our<br />
stalwart manufacturing companies.<br />
Many improvements have resulted<br />
since we have started to have these<br />
conversations with government,<br />
many of which have contributed to an<br />
environment where manufacturing<br />
has been recovering, albeit at rates<br />
we would have liked to exceed. So the<br />
South African purchasing managers<br />
index has been in expansionary<br />
territory for five months of this year,<br />
which at least compares well with<br />
many of our competitors. But even so,<br />
volumes are now still at pre-October<br />
2008 levels, which means there is still a<br />
long way to go.<br />
122 www.aFRICA<strong>outlook</strong>mag.com
Change language