Many times among Nigerians, you hear questions on why Chinese manufacturing industries here don’t make products from start to finish.
When you say a vehicle-making plant is rolling out products, or a steel company fabricating equipment, questions arise on whether such is an assembly plant or a full component manufacturer.
However, most of such questions arise from the level of knowledge of manufacturing today by the person asking.
In today’s world, even for something as simple as a T-shirt, there is no place it is manufactured from the thread to the dye, sewing, packaging, etc all made at the same spot from the first to the last step.
The world long ago embraced modular manufacturing as an effective means of production in labour, time and capital, even the management of space needed to set up a production facility.
Those who had lived in doubts about this, especially in the African industrialisation policy under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), saw a reason to have a change of mind during our numerous visits to industrial zones in the cities of Chenzhou, Hunan Province and Luoyang in Henan Province in July.
From the green energy giant plants of Sany that produce construction, mining, dredging, photovoltaic modules, etc in the Hunan Industrial Free Trade Zone in Chenzhou to the agricultural machinery rolling lines, all we witnessed were industrial production that integrates with other manufacturers to make commodities and equipment. We didn’t encounter a production line where manufacturers sit at a spot and build all the parts and components of a product from scratch to the finished stage.
In the Luoyang industrial cluster, such was repeated as we visited the Luoyang Lutong Trade Company, and Luoyang Sida Agricultural Company Ltd. For known intentions, ACE Magazine always asked the manufacturers if they make all the components in situ or rely on other players for some of what they need. The responses were the same – they make the ones they can and rely on other players in the sector for what else they need.
Like in African production lines
Since the BRI, China upped its leading role in the industrialisation of Africa. In so many ways, China hasn’t relented in boosting Africa’s industrial growth efforts. But many still ask questions on when China will for instance manufacture motorcycles with all the parts produced at the same spot. It is only when that happens they will believe that manufacturing has actually kicked off in Africa.
However, from hindsight, the Apple gadgets franchise is owned by the USA of various forms whose 55% are assembled in China’s 12 factories located in nine cities have the components made in some dozen countries including the wireless chip manufactured by Germany’s Infineon Tech, the screen by Japanese Toshiba, the Bluetooth in the USA by Broadcom, and many more while its final assembly point is in China. That is why the world today discusses the country of final production where the last touch is put to the product to make it ready for the final consumer.
We visited about six such factories in the two cities, each making the final touch on the products they are known for and the parts coming from various manufacturers, some of them even from outside China.
Not peculiar to Africa
The same production procedure happens in Nigeria and not peculiar to the country or others in Africa. That doesn’t amount to China deceiving Africans, but just following the trend of the time globally. There are car assembly plants in Nigeria owned by Chinese investors with some components imported into Nigeria and some fabricated in Nigeria – all of them coupled to make the final product. The finding signified that Chinese investments in manufacturing in Africa are not deceptive or ill-intended. Chinese manufacturers have over 200 factories in Nigeria which the Chinese Embassy in Nigeria said employed over 200,000 Nigerians. In our maiden magazine edition in September 2021, the Chinese Consul General in Lagos, Mr. Chu Maoming explained that Chinese production was 9% of Nigeria’s manufacturing GDP in 2019. These don’t include some infrastructure into services that boost manufacturing such as the Lekki Deep Seaport worth 41.5 billion built by China Harbour Engineering and commissioned in January 2023.
The major Chinese investments in manufacturing are clustered around Ogun State where over 101 factories are located at the Ogun Guangdong Free Trade Zone (OGFTZ), the Sinoma Industrial Cluster and others in Ogun, Edo, Enugu, Cross River, Imo, Kaduna and other states.
Expert’s call for more
When we had the last conference in Beijing hosted by China’s Centre for Contemporary World Studies at the Wanzhou Hotel, Haidian, one of the participants, an African expert from Zimbabwe raised the issue. Even though he did not get the instances we detailed here, that needed to be clarified to disabuse the minds of Africans with sundry opinions from other interests that China only operates assembly points in Africa rather than manufacturing with full compliments.
On the sidelines of the conference, Prof. Pat Okpoko, a former Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka told ACE Magazine that many Africans need a better understanding of manufacturing procedures in today’s world. He expressed his trust that Chinese manufacturing efforts under the BRI in Africa were on the right course. As he called for more efforts from Chinese investors, he challenged Nigerian and African governments to provide investors with the right environment to thrive and help the local economies grow.
Based on the paper he presented at the conference that focused on the need to tailor BRI efforts in Africa towards support for the youths, Okpoko said such a concerted objective would ensure that the young people of Africa get employed at such manufacturing outfits and carry forward a lasting legacy of BRI, especially in the continent.
About the writer:
Ikenna Emewu, Editor-in-chief, Africa China Economy Magazine, Nigeria. This article was culled from Africa China Economy Magazine.
