Theme: African Industrialisation through Fostering Competitive Firms and Value Chains on the Continent Venue: Birchwood Hotel, Boksburg
Programme Director, Mr Ayabonga Cawe
Ministers and Deputy Ministers present, Director-General of the DTI&C, Mr Simphiwe Hamilton,
Director-General of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Mr. Mikiya Saito,
Acting Director-General of Employment & Labour, Ms Jacky Molisane,
Senior Advisor, African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) Prof Bartholomew Kingsly Armah,
President of the Pan-African Productivity Association (PAPA), Mr Cyprian Mayamba
Distinguished representatives from African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD); the Pan-African Productivity Association, and JICA;
Distinguished guests, partners, and delegates from across the Continent and the World
I greet you all this morning in a proudly South African way- we say Sanibonani!
Good morning to you all!
It is a great honour and privilege to address this esteemed gathering of the 2025 Africa Kaizen Annual Conference, a platform that brings together visionary leaders, experts, and practitioners dedicated to advancing productivity, competitiveness, and industrial excellence across our continent.
Since its inception in 2017 by AUDA-NEPAD and JICA, Africa Kaizen Initiative (AKI) has evolved into a vibrant platform uniting governments, development partners, and enterprises across the continent. The Africa Kaizen Annual Conference (AKAC) has become a premier forum for policy dialogue, mutual learning, and advancing firm-level competitiveness. South Africa's participation in this continental movement reflects our commitment to building a productive, competitive, and inclusive economy.
The 2025 Africa Kaizen Annual Conference takes place at the time when Africa's voice in global economic transformation is strengthening and becoming more determined than ever before. We meet on the eve of South Africa's hosting of the G20 Summit, the first ever on African soil. Symbolically, this is Africa's moment to reposition itself as a strategic center of global growth. In many ways, this conference serves as a precursor to that global dialogue, because Kaizen, productivity, and continuous improvement are at the very heart of how Africa will strengthen its competitiveness and secure its place in the global economy.
Africa's Agenda 2063 envisions “an integrated, prosperous, and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the international arena."
This vision is a continental mission to reclaim our economic sovereignty, to industrialise, and to translate Africa's natural wealth into human prosperity. It demands that we move from being exporters of commodities to manufacturers of value. It calls for the industrialisation of Africa, built on productivity, competitive firms, and interconnected value chains. Therefore, this conference provides the ideal platform to explore how the Kaizen philosophy can be leveraged to foster industrialization, strengthen regional value chains, and position African enterprises to compete confidently in the global marketplace.
Africa is a continent of scale and possibility. Her landmass is nearly 30 million km² — which is 20% of the world's land surface. Her majestic oceans stretch over nearly 13 million km² of exclusive maritime zones covering the Atlantic and Indian Oceans — a true blue-economy frontier.
Yet, despite accounting for 17% of the global population — now exceeding 1.46 billion people, with 70% under the age of 35 — Africa's contribution to global GDP remains at less than 3%, and its share of global manufacturing value-added hovers around 1.9%. Nearly one-third of Africa's youth are unemployed. This imbalance is not due to lack of potential but to the historic structure of global trade — one where Africa exports raw materials and imports finished goods. It is a structure that perpetuates dependency and drains value.
Africa's economies remain heavily dependent on raw-material exports — yet beneficiation and value-addition are often realised outside the continent. We extract and export while others manufacture and re-import at premium value. Africa's minerals — cobalt, lithium, platinum, manganese, rare earths — fuel the world's green transition. Yet beneficiation, manufacturing, and profits are still captured elsewhere. Africa must no longer be the warehouse of raw materials but the workshop of the world. This economic leakage needs to stop, and Africa's future must be built not on extraction, but on industrialisation, on innovation, and on productivity.
I challenge the 2025 Kaizen Conference to rethink and reshape international partnerships. Cooperation must be about co-creation, co-investment, and technology transfer. Africa does not seek aid; it seeks equitable industrial partnerships that build productive capacity, technology ecosystems, and jobs on African soil.
The theme of this conference, “African Industrialisation through Fostering Competitive Firms and Value Chains," is precisely what Agenda 2063 calls for.
Industrialisation must no longer be a dream deferred — it must be a coordinated continental project powered by competitive African firms, regional value chains, and technological leapfrogging. Across our continent, we are already have tangible success stories such as:
Yes, these are great successes- but much more still needs to be done. You may agree with me that our young engineers, doctors, coders, and artisans power industries from Silicon Valley to Shanghai – building economies across continents. We must reverse this dynamic by building industrial productivity through human capital investment — technical skills, managerial capabilities, and scientific research that catalyse manufacturing and innovation.
We must invest in human-resource development, strengthen technical and vocational education, and expand digital skills so that productivity becomes embedded in our culture. As the late Mwalimu Julius Nyerere said, “People cannot be developed; they can only develop themselves." Our job is to create the enabling conditions for our people to do so.
In South Africa, through Productivity SA (an entity of the Department of Employment and Labour), we have embraced Kaizen principles to enhance business performance and strengthen our industrial base. Kaizen has proven especially effective in our programs, the Competitiveness Improvement Services (CIS) and the Business Turnaround and Recovery Program, which help struggling enterprises rebuild their competitiveness, preserve jobs, and stimulate growth.
We have prioritised productivity improvement as a key driver of employment creation, industrial competitiveness, and inclusive growth by advancing programmes that:
We are committed to deepening the Kaizen approach across industries, from manufacturing and services to public sector institutions, because we believe that productivity is the most sustainable way to enhance national competitiveness and build an economy that works for all. Indeed, “Without productivity, there can be no prosperity."
Too often, when we speak of innovation, we look outward. Yet Africa has always been a cradle of knowledge — from Ethiopia's ancient irrigation systems, to West Africa's metallurgy, to Southern Africa's traditional building sciences and herbal pharmacology.
Indigenous knowledge systems are blueprints for future sustainability. We must integrate this knowledge into modern industrial design, environmental science, and sustainable production. Kaizen — the philosophy of continuous improvement — aligns perfectly with African values of Ubuntu, collective advancement, and resilience through learning. It is important therefore that productivity must not erase our identity built around indigenous systems, but it must elevate it.
The AfCFTA, now connecting 1.3 billion people and 55 economies, is the largest free-trade area in the world by participating countries. It holds the potential to lift 30 million Africans out of extreme poverty and boost intra-African trade by over 50% within a decade.
Kaizen teaches us that transformation begins within — through small, disciplined, incremental improvements that yield exponential outcomes. Let this conference be more than a dialogue. Let it be the launch pad of a continental productivity revolution that integrates Kaizen into Africa's industrial policy, public administration, and enterprise culture.
We must find new ways, better ways, and more innovative ways to:
Before I conclude, allow me to express how delighted we are that this year's conference coincides with Productivity Month in South Africa, a time when we celebrate the value of productivity in driving economic growth and competitiveness.
Tomorrow, the 28th of October, we will host the Productivity Awards, which, for the first time, have been combined with the Africa Kaizen Awards. By bringing these awards together, we are creating a single, powerful platform that celebrates excellence, innovation, and improvement across enterprises, while elevating the importance of Kaizen as a tool for transformation in our country and our continent.
These awards will not only recognise achievement, but they will also inspire others to pursue the path of continuous improvement and productivity-driven success.
Conclusion
Productivity is not simply about working harder; it's about working smarter, more efficiently, and more innovatively. It is about creating more value from the same inputs and ensuring that growth translates into decent jobs, competitiveness, and sustainable prosperity.
As Peter Drucker wisely said, “Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things." Our challenge and our opportunity are to ensure that Africa does both.
Africa is no longer waiting to be invited to the table — we are setting our own table.
Let us make productivity our creed, industrialisation our mission, and competitiveness our collective destiny. If we succeed — and we must — Africa will not only rise, it will lead.
Because when productivity becomes a culture, prosperity becomes a habit.
Thank you.
© 2019 - The South African Department of Employment & Labour
