Opportunity Issue 95

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LAUREATE LEADERS _____ __ ___ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Leaders who rise to the demands of extraordinary crisis tend to be those willing to take the risk to be creative, inventive and courageous ___ __ ___ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ needs to be complemented by severe punishment for those who continue to be destructive.” Dr Ramphele advocates robust plans for a transition to renewable energy, with timelines towards zero emissions. “We have much to gain by kick-starting our economy through accelerating investments in enterprises that promote regenerative economic production systems.” South African SMMEs are largely in survival mode. We require nimble and integrative approaches that collapse the bureaucracy of existing organisations into a high-impact platform to identify and significantly invest financial and business skills support, she says. We need to move away from GDP as a measure of progress. “GDP is an inadequate measure given that it largely accounts for, and values, only consumption. GDP does not consider the ecological costs in the production of goods and services that have a major impact on the wellbeing of people and our planet.” Public services should be reimagined to ensure high-quality, sustainable solutions. “The pernicious tender system that has turned public servants into administrators of interminable tender processes needs to be ended.” Social and physical infrastructure development must be driven by skilled personnel, with capable leaders at local, provincial and national levels to ensure that they can negotiate value for money for all public-private partnerships. “We urgently need to transform and revitalise infrastructure to kick-start our moribund economy. Wellplanned and well-executed infrastructure development programmes are the only guarantor of training opportunities for the millions of young unemployed people to become artisans and maintenance workers.” A FAILING EDUCATION WHEN EXCELLENCE IS ATTAINABLE Our education system is the best-resourced in Africa, yet by all measures is among the worst performers globally. In the 2018-2019 fiscal year, 16.5% of government expenditure went to basic education; overall, 20% of our national resources are spent on basic and higher education annually, yet we have “a hopelessly underperforming system that has failed generations of young people since 1994”. “It would be much cheaper to let go of all default teachers, 50 years and older, with attractive packages. We would then be able to hire young people from our higher education and training system, who are assessed to have the aptitude and commitment to become 21stcentury teachers. In-service training of scores of young people would enable us to reimagine and build a 21stcentury education system.” Dr Ramphele concludes: “Covid-19 has created an urgent imperative to transform our inequitable society into one governed by the values of ubuntu – that would help us understand that there is no ‘I’ without ‘We’. An ubuntu value-based society, with citizens that are liberated from the impositions of inferiority and superiority complexes, is urgently needed. Such a society would be driven by healthy relationships with self, family, community and wider society. Leadership that is self-liberated would emerge to lead the rebuilding of our broken public institutions in line with ubuntu values and the prescriptions of our Constitution.” ___ ___ “We have much to gain by kick-starting our economy through accelerating investments in enterprises that promote regenerative economic production systems.”
GLOBAL TRADE More than beer and chocolates Flanders, the northern Dutch-speaking region of Belgium, has a lot to offer South African companies that want to enter the European market. Since the Middle Ages, Flanders was a textile region, making tapestries and clothing. The textile sector diversified into flooring products from carpets to wooden flooring, technical textiles and artificial grass. Flanders is now expanding in new areas of expertise such as smart textiles and new materials, where for example, microchips are integrated in the textile fabrics. In the golden Sixties, Flanders was successful in attracting multinational chemical companies to the port of Antwerp. The port is an ideal gateway to the international markets and the European hinterland. The different plants are interconnected with pipelines and connected with other ports (such as Zeebrugge and Amsterdam) making it a very efficient production location. Sasol of South Africa is present in Flanders with a distribution facility in Antwerp. Another wave of investments in the Sixties came from the automotive sector. Today Volvo (XC40 model) and Audi (E-Tron model) in the Brussels region have flexible production plants. Flanders also attracts automotive suppliers as well as truck and coach/bus manufacturers. Volvo trucks has the largest manufacturing plant in Ghent. New investments also stem from the pharmaceutical sector. The pharmaceutical development started in 1<strong>95</strong>3 with Dr Paul Janssen, who founded Janssen Pharmaceuticals in Beerse. His challenge was to merge pharmacology and chemistry knowledge: 80 medicines were discovered in different fields, including Opiod (Fentanyl – pain medication), Mikonazole (Daktarin – antifungal medication) and Loperamide (Imodium – diarrhea medication) to name a few. Green biotech was introduced to Flanders by the company PGS (Plant Genetic Systems) in 1992. The founders, Prof Mantagu and Dr Jeff Schell, were the first to develop plants resistant to insects, pests and herbicides by genetically engineering the plants. Many of the corn, cotton, yellow maize and soybeans currently available in South Africa are GM (genetically modified) crops. Medical biotechnology (red biotech) has developed rapidly in Flanders, mostly at the five universities and four academic hospitals for clinical trials. More than 140 companies have been formed over the years. In the ICT space, Flanders is one of the worldwide pioneers in nanotechnology (chip technology) thanks to the InterUniversity Micro Electronics Center (IMEC), linked to the oldest university of Europe: KU Leuven. IMEC expanded its expertise in nanotechnology and chip technology to application domains such as healthcare, smart cities, mobility and manufacturing, logistics and energy. Flanders is now on the forefront of high-tech research and the digital economy. More than 120 companies have spun off since IMEC was established in 1986. The food-processing sector is well-established: the beverage sector boasts 224 breweries, 1 000 types of beers and the largest brewing company, ABInbev. Chocolate production is the highest in Europe, but the region also excels in the production of frozen vegetables, fries and bakery products. Flanders is strategically located in the middle of Europe, making it an ideal location for an European Distribution Centre (EDC). More than 250 companies (including Nike, Bose, Black & Decker, Volvo, Mazda, Scania, Ikea, Ingram Micro, Greenspan and Chiquita) selected Flanders as an EDC. South African companies should consider Flanders as an R&D location or distribution hub for a variety of sectors. Flanders excels in developing the “Triple Helix’’ (company: education: government). Building your presence in Europe reduces your dependence on the rand, your company becomes part of the various ecosystems and you can tap into qualified personnel and a broad range of incentives. www.flandersinvestmentandtrade.com ___ __ Luc Fabry Trade and Investment Commissioner, Flanders Investment & Trade ___ __ IMEC has 2 clean rooms and is at the forefront of chip design and the digital economy. www.opportunityonline.co.za | 17
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Opportunity Issue 95

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