It is most unlikely that you will visit China and not notice its great industrialisation success. China’s mesmerizing success in creating jobs, lifting 700m people out of extreme poverty, generating overwhelming wealth, improving living standards and achieved food security for the Chinese people through industrialisation is remarkable. Her speed and precision in industrialisation is a modern-day miracle. China overtook the United States in 2011 to become the world’s largest producer of manufactured goods. Though following different routes, Britain, France, Germany, Japan and the US hitherto achieved global pre-eminence, economic strength and social stability through the same path of industrialization.
Nigeria Less Industrialized Today
Industrialization has been acknowledged as a critical engine for growth, prosperity, job creation and improved living standards. Yet Africa, Nigeria in particular, is less industrialized today than it was 30 to 40 years ago. Data from the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS) indicate that the contribution of manufacturing to the country’s GDP keeps declining in the past five years. Meanwhile, manufacturing to GDP ratio is a measure of industrialization. A quick snapshot. In 2018, manufacturing contributed 9.2% to GDP, 9.06% in 2019, 8.99% in 2020, 8.98% in 2021 and declined to 8.92% in 2022. The inability to industrialize is at the root of Africa’s poverty. Nigeria, the giant of Africa, appears left behind, with no plan to industrialize. We seem to be losing every opportunity to make any meaningful progress. Populous, labour-abundant economies globally have all anchored on a manufacturing boom to climb the ladder of economic emancipation. The pertinent questions to ask are: How did China and other industrialized countries get it right? How did Nigeria lose it?
Let us start by distilling the common denominator among all the industrialized nations. First, much priority is placed on education and technological advancement. Britain focused on new scientific inventions such as developing the steam engine and using it to the most significant advantage of massive production of goods and movement of people and goods from one part of Europe to another. France focused on technical education, establishing institutions like Ecoles des Arts et Metiers and Ecole Polytechnique. Germany and Japan emphasised solid engineering, technical and vocational education. The US invested in education that produced technological innovations. China followed this path, achieving 98% literacy with an emphasis on technical and vocational education. Industrialisation anchors on an educated and skilled workforce. How can a country industrialize with a dominant illiterate population?
