Editorial

Citation

Bennett, D. (2007), "Editorial", Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, Vol. 18 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/jmtm.2007.06818daa.001

Editorial

In several previous editorials for this journal, I have commented on the movement of manufacturing from one part of the world to another and the ensuing effect on economic growth in the countries that have become the new workshops to the world. In the 16 years since I became Editor of JMTM this movement has become increasingly dramatic, with Asia emerging as the dominant region for producing manufactured goods. This phenomenon been reflected in the geographical location of authors, with many more coming from Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, etc. Also, in my Editorial of Volume 17, Issue 7 towards the end of last year I compared the advances made by China with the contraction of Africa when measured in GDP per capita.

Of course, in practice, it is necessary to make more meaningful comparisons than this because countries like China or India are one state politically with a single government and a unique set of economic policies. Africa on the other hand comprises more than 50 countries with different political and economic systems as well as unique geographical characteristics, spanning the globe from 358 north to 358 South of the Equator. Therefore, benchmarks such as the one described by Michel Leseure, when he compared Morocco and Malaysia, are more useful (see Editorial in Volume 17, Issue 3). These two countries are very similar in terms of their populations and natural resources and 20 years ago Morocco was slightly more advanced economically. However, today Malaysia has a GDP per capita of US$12,700 while Morocco's is only one third of this.

A couple of countries in Africa that I have visited in the last few months are Mauritius and Libya. Both have a GDP per capita of the same order as Malaysia (US$13,500 for Mauritius and US$12,700 for Libya). However, the similarity between these two African countries ends there. Mauritius suffers from being isolated in the Indian Ocean off the west coast of the African mainland and has few natural resources except for its well-educated and entrepreneurial people. When the market for its main product, sugarcane, began to decrease it started to develop a textile sector. Now it has become a world class supplier to the large European clothing chains, beating its Chinese competitors in terms of design, quality and delivery.

Libya on the other hand has a simple explanation for its economic situation ... oil. With 30 billion barrels of proven reserves it tops the list of African countries that have the advantage of this resource, although for years poor government has meant that most of its citizens have not benefited. However, Libya is now slowly starting to realise it cannot rely on this resource for ever, having seen what has happened in many of the Gulf states where the oil advantage has been eroded. Therefore, Libyan engineers, of which there are many thousands in jobs related to the oil industry, are having to change their way of thinking and revise their expectations of where opportunities will lie in the future. If Libya invests its current wealth in supporting entrepreneurs to develop new, high value-added, manufacturing industries, this could make a significant difference, not only to that country, but also to the well-being of some of its neighbours in Africa.

David Bennett