Between invention and industry: Africa's missing middle

Africa contributes less than 2% to global manufacturing production, yet it holds 20% of the world's land and 18% of its population. Despite decades of policy efforts, the economic gap remains largely unchanged. Common explanations for this include infrastructure issues, financial constraints, and fragmented markets, although even countries with improved infrastructure still struggle to industrialize.

Capital flows towards economies that import goods their citizens consume, while skill development programs leave graduates without employment opportunities. The real issue, however, is a lack of the institutional infrastructure needed to transform knowledge and engineering capabilities into thriving industries. This "missing middle" is evident throughout the continent.

Researchers create promising technologies, but there's no path to prototype them. Startups win competitions but lack manufacturing infrastructure. Factories are built, but they remain reliant on imported components and expertise. Locally developed products exist but have no procurement, distribution, or capital support to scale.

Successful industrial economies are not merely a collection of isolated assets; they are interconnected networks where research institutions collaborate with manufacturers, manufacturers cultivate local suppliers, and governments create early markets through strategic procurement. The National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) in Nigeria exemplifies this approach.

Instead of focusing solely on science and engineering as ends, NASENI emphasizes their connection to production, enterprise, and markets. They have implemented various initiatives such as InnovateNaija to identify innovators across Nigeria's 36 states, an NASENI Innovation Hub for incubation and prototyping, a Research Commercialization Grant Programme to fund researchers with scalable work, and a Showroom to showcase production-ready technologies to buyers and investors.

On the manufacturing side, they are localizing value chains by developing solar manufacturing facilities rather than importing finished products. NASENI is also producing precision components for aerospace applications, establishing an ISO-certified diagnostics factory to produce medical test kits locally, and creating supply chains for these products.

While individual successes are important, they are not enough to constitute industrialization. Instead, what Africa needs are projects that build capabilities that can withstand changes in leadership. Africa possesses the necessary human resources, ideas, and resources, as well as growing markets. The challenge now is to deliberately and systematically build the connections between research, manufacturing, engineering, skills development, capital investment, and product markets.

This requires unwavering commitment from institutions willing to undertake the necessary, albeit less glamorous, work over long timeframes that extend beyond political cycles. The industrialization journey of Africa is far from complete, but the time to begin is now.