maka wrote:harrydre wrote:maka wrote:essyk wrote:This everlasting topic.
We produce abundant resources,sell/export raw material to west and end up buying/importing the finished products at high prices.
Is it because we lack skilled labour or plants to manufacture Quality goods?
Someone behind the curtains signed an agreement contract-rub my back and I rub yours.
We both 'benefit', but the association ends up becoming parasitic instead of mutual.
We need the west as much as they need us but we still have a slave mentality to shed off.
its not coz of lack of manpower...i think we are just....(dont have any word to use)...tell me why we are importing even matchboxes from China,toothpicks etc...we will go back to sijui electricity costs are prohibitive etc excuses galore...mediocrity
because of guys like you who never in 100 years believe we can do it. as Essyk has put it, shed off the slave mentality.
kindly re read what I wrote...actually what I have achieved in terms of education is a personal statement and committment that any African can be the best at any given field given the chance and opportunity...I have several friends at the University of London and they perform extremely well on a head to head basis compared to their wazungu classmates...when it comes to our products its something else we like cutting corners a lot being the profit/greed seekers most of us are...I know we can do it but we simply dont want to...do you think the perfection in your german/japanese engine is coz some guy wasnt keen enough to do everything right,use the right tools and parts...there was an article Sunny Bindra wrote some time back he was spot on about the mediocrity that surrounds us...its not slave mentality we just dont give it our best...and then goes the question why should i waste my hard earned money to support a fellow african who produces substandard goods not because he/she has no capacity to produce excellent products but because he/she doesnt want to put a little more effort,a little more thought...we are our own worst enemies...
@maka_chieth, we are actually on the same side on this one! we both want Africa to progress - sindio?
We all agree that in order for us to progress we need to export 'quality' products sindio? No one wants to pay money for a substandard product yet a quality product exists in the market for the same price. However, we do need to ask ourselves how these 'quality' products come about in the first place. What are the prerequisites?
1. Good heads leading the team to develop these products is essential (which we have)
2. Time to develop good products. This time is an investment that we need to get our R&D in place since -sindio?
3. Money to pay these people in the long run.
Here is my solution - the Chinese say "the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago the next best time is now". We need to get off our behinds and start working on these products. it is however wise to understand that - we need our government and the private sector to look aside on some things since I can assure you that we will not match the quality produced currently by the Chinese or Europeans in our first iteration - we need to embrace the culture of asking of what we require - what can we not do without? i.e. what is the minimum viable product? We need to institutionalize a culture of "affirmative action" if you may in our procurement for a period of time. i.e. Does it work? Does it do what I want? This should be done especially when buying African products. this needs to be targeted and timed at ensuring that the companies that are striving to keep their head above water survive and keep their staff working in order to add value to their products and progressively attain the quality that we crave.
Secondly, we really need to stop fighting ourselves! It is not beneficial to implement an IP regime that does not benefit us. We need to ask ourselves - WHAT IS IN IT FOR US?
Both these things require government and private sector to change the way they approach procurement. Without these changes I can assure you that we shall never…ever move.
Case in point – the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer, these guys sold exclusively to the Brazilian government until they made their first plane for the export market in 1985 i.e. 16 years after they were founded. We now use Embraer in Kenya for short flights.
All Mushrooms are edible! Some Mushroom are only edible ONCE!