At the State of the Nation Address 2018 (SONA) President Ramaphosa specified that it is necessary to address the decline of South Africa’s manufacturing capacity which has considerably affected employment and exports. He also confirmed that government plans to promote greater investment in key manufacturing sectors through the strategic use of incentives such as creating a localisation programme which will ensure that products like textile, clothing, furniture, rail rolling stock and water meters are designated for local procurement.

It is acknowledged that a country’s sustainable economic development is led by manufacturing with essential linkages to the upstream production sectors of the economy such as mining and agriculture, as well as the downstream sectors including services, which ultimately contribute overall to strengthening integrated value chains within industry.

Certain manufacturing sectors have high employment multipliers with areas such as technology, innovation, research and development enhanced through manufacturing. Likewise, manufacturing supports and enables the growth of national skills capacity and capabilities, and the movement towards a knowledge economy. So far, the structural transformation that shifts productive resources from agriculture and mining to manufacturing which has helped many countries achieve greater prosperity, has bypassed most African countries.

ABOUT MANUFACTURING INDABA

The 5th edition of the Manufacturing Indaba will be hosted at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg on the 19th and 20th of June 2018, and will take place with the joint support and strategic partnership of the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) and the Manufacturing Circle, a corporate association of manufacturers.

Visit our new website, to learn more about this prestigious event
Enquiries: info@manufacturingindaba.co.za