Manufacturing is the key to unlocking stunted growth

Manufacturing is the key to unlocking stunted growth

There is a direct correlation between the tepid economic growth that has characterised the local economy to the wanning fortunes of our manufacturing sector. Question is, how can we stimulate growth, so manufacturing becomes a key enabler of job creation?

Against the backdrop of challenges, government’s interventions in kick-starting stalling growth are laudable. However, the successes achieved thus far have largely been offset by the onset of de-industrialisation. Curiously, this phenomenon is not unique or characteristic to SA but the rest of the continent.

The caveat – more so in the SA context is that it’s becoming increasingly evident that this tepid economic growth won’t suffice. Against the backdrop of addressing, the triple challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequality, we need to aggressively ramp-up our investment in manufacturing so it can have a positive knock-on effect on economic growth. More significantly, our growth and expansion trajectory
must be unequivocally development-oriented and inclusive, employment-generating and in light of our country’s historical legacies, it must be transformational.

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