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Manufacturing in Africa recovering, industry leaders say
Xinhua
26 Jun 2020, 03:05 GMT+10
NAIROBI, June 25 (Xinhua) — Some African countries are seeing gradual business recovery as new measures to manage COVID-19 pandemic are implemented, manufacturing industry leaders from Kenya, Egypt and Zambia said on Thursday.
Phyllis Wakiaga, chief executive officer of the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) said there are signs of recovery as the government and the private sector starts to buy more locally produced goods.
"Some of the manufacturers repurposed so that they started producing goods which have higher demand during this pandemic. The lesson we have now learned is to increase our capacity to enhance our production of some products that we often import. We also need to enhance the supply chain of products within the continent," she said during the webinar held in Nairobi.
Participants said one of the drivers of recovery is local sourcing of manufactured goods, where countries like Kenya have now stopped the importation of high demand products like face masks after training locals on how to make medical standard masks.
Sherif El Gabaly, chairman of the Board of the Egyptian Chamber of Chemical Industries said there is a noticeable increase in exports from Egypt.
"There is optimism for business recovery. In Egypt, we have managed to do well because of our good industrial and agriculture base," he said during a webinar.
James Mwangi, a member of Kenya COVID-19 Fund said some companies that manufacture personal protective equipment (PPE) have recalled their staff who had been suspended off when the pandemic struck.
"The first PPEs from local manufacturers are now ready for distribution to the public hospitals in Kenya. The creation of local medical supply chains is already starting to crystallize. It will trigger the awakening of our textile industry as well as our cotton farming sector," he said.
Joshua Rugema, chief executive of the East African Commodity Exchange said increased import of raw materials by manufacturers has stretched demand for warehousing in the East Africa region.
"Demand for warehousing space has increased compared to last year. We are at 86 percent utilization rate. So to meet the demand for space from the governments and the private sector, we are planning to increase our capacity to hold more goods," he said.
Gilbert Langat, the CEO of the Kenya Shippers Council said manufacturers are now importing for six months rather than three months and this has shot up demand for space.
He said a key lesson from the pandemic relating to logistics management is that countries in Africa must modernize and automate their systems to make it efficient and cheaper to move goods around the continent.
Langat said for instance that the Port of Mombasa and the inland ports in the capital Nairobi and Naivasha town if automated will reduce the need to physically travel there and this increases efficiency tremendously.
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