In addition, Tom Nevin outlines the history of South Africa's industrial growth. Expect 1999 to become a landmark for African industry. A major conference on industrial partnerships and investment in Africa is taking place in Dakar, Senegal on 20 October. Donor nations, development finance institutions, private investors and corporate executives from Europe, USA and Japan will interact with African political leaders, prominent African businessmen and representatives of Africa's business associations to consider financing selected industrial projects and the transfer of technology. The aim is to re-ignite interest in Africa as a viable destination for investment and technology transfer.
Industrial development requires a lot of external capital and resources.
Equally important is providing the right enabling package of industrial policies, quality and standardisation systems and infrastructure. Among the sub-Saharan African countries likely to attract investment are Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Senegal and Uganda. By the yardstick for measuring industrial output in terms of MVA or Manufacturing Value Added, South Africa is by far the most industrially advanced country. The differences in MVA between the top three African countries are immense. Three sub-Saharan countries, Cameroon and Cote d'Ivoire at almost two billion dollars and Zimbabwe at one and a half billion dollars complete the top ten league.