Studies have shown that Africa is a continent with immense potential for economic development given that the under-18 population will increase by two thirds to about one billion by 2050 (You et al., 2014). The scholars also posit that about half of children’s population in the world will be in Africa by 2100 hinging on how essential the African market will be to the world’s economy. Couple with its vast natural resources, a growing population, and increasing urbanization, Africa is truly poised to become a major player in the global economy. However, despite its potential, Africa remains one of the poorest continents in the world, and its economies are largely dependent on foreign aid and investment (Gowreesunkar, 2019). The major hindrance to Africa’s development has been bad governance which has laid down poor structures to counter strife like coups, terrorism, and corruption among others. Some scholars connote that the continent has relied heavily on foreign direct investment and aids instead of investing in herself. The continent has also borrowed heavily from multilateral financial institutions, most of the collected revenue has been utilised in servicing odious debts instead of investing in her own development.

Moreover, another reason for Africa's economic underdevelopment is the lack of a strong manufacturing base. Africa currently imports a vast majority of its manufactured goods from China, which has become the "factory of the world." This reliance on Chinese imports has made African economies vulnerable to global economic shocks such wars, territorial, and maritime disputes along the shipping routes, and shifts in the global politics which affect the US dollar’s stability (An et al., 2020; Parasrampuria, 2019). The reliance has also prevented African countries from developing their own domestic manufacturing industries given that our governments are not training people to enter manufacturing (Chorev, 2019; Wegenast et al., 2019). Unfortunately, the continent has been left playing a catch-up with the rest of the world.

In recent years, there have been calls for African countries to join forces and develop an alternative to Chinese industry for the Western world (Aiginger & Rodrik, 2020). These calls have been motivated by various factors, including the growing recognition of the need to diversify Africa's economies away from a reliance on imports, the desire to create jobs for Africa's growing population, and the increasingly protectionist policies of some Western countries (Jerome & Ajakaiye, 2019). There is also the need to move away from the export of unprocessed agricultural produce given the recent impact of climate change that has hit Africa very hard (Bjornlund et al., 2020). With the clamour to invest in sustainable automobiles and help create a low-carbon global economy, there has also been a surge in the demand for electric vehicles (EVs) (Ornek, 2023). This observation implies that there is need to explore mineral ores such as coltan, cerium, lanthanum, mica uranium and aquamarine which have been discovered in some place in Africa. High grade coltan is already being mined by multinationals in DR Congo and now there is need to build processing plants in the continent.

Despite these calls, there are several obstacles that stand in the way of African countries joining forces to develop an alternative to Chinese industry. One major obstacle has been lacking political will (Oleribe et al., 2019). For instance, African leaders often have different priorities, and they may be reluctant to cooperate on a project that requires significant political and economic coordination (Abercrombie, 2019). As a result, the policies formulated by many African Governments have lacked that element that stirs economic growth. For example, an easy way to venture into cross-boarder trade is to allow Visa-free to entry to businesspeople. However, this has been easier said by the African leaders than done.

There has also been a lack of infrastructure to support manufacturing. Africa has a shortage of infrastructure, including roads, ports, and electricity, which makes it difficult and expensive to do business (Lakmeeharan et al., 2020). For example, many roads in Africa are seasonal, hindering movement of people and goods during rainy seasons (Adewole, 2019). Most countries in Africa also ration their electricity due to limited sources of electricity and with a high demand for electricity, the only way to meet the deficit is by rationing (Peters et al., 2024). The charge for this electricity is also exorbitantly high and given that manufacturing is an energy-intensive process, the cost of production in Africa can only soar higher. Moreover, most ports in African countries are also not big enough to accommodate gigantic ship vessels and jets (Haralambides, 2019). This implies that the volume of goods passing through our ports per unit of transport are less thus slowing the rate at which we do business with the rest of the world.

Africa also experiences a shortage of skilled labor, which makes it difficult to attract and retain manufacturing workers (Gelb et al., 2020). For example, many manufacturing companies need experts to help in decision-making as well as monitor the processes to ensure that the produced goods comply with the set standards. When this trained labour force is missing, many manufacturers will often set their plants elsewhere to reduce on the cost of training. Many African countries often have trade barriers in the form of high tariffs that make it difficult for goods to move freely within the continent (Abrego et al., 2020; Maliszewska et al., 2020). Some of these protectionist policies are aimed at safeguarding local production in the individual countries. Unfortunately, the policies curtail cross-boarder trade thus slowing down the rate of continental trade.

In addition to these obstacles, there are also several challenges that African countries would face in trying to compete with China. For instance, China's low labor costs gives it an edge over the rest of the economies in the world (Huang et al., 2021). Conventionally, China has some of the lowest labor costs in the world, which gives Chinese manufacturers a significant competitive advantage. Furthermore, China has very efficient supply chains making it possible to produce goods quickly and cheaply (Lee & Shen, 2020). This has made China to be very attractive to the investors from around the world. The county also has access to cutting-edge technology, which allows Chinese manufacturers to produce high-quality goods at competitive prices (Zenglein & Holzmann, 2019). This implies that Chinese-manufactured goods have good finish thus outcompeting goods from the other parts of the world.

What can the African countries do increase their competitiveness in the global market?

Despite these challenges, there are several things that African countries can do to increase their competitiveness and develop an alternative to Chinese industry for the Western world. One such a thing is to develop the continent’s regional value chains. In this regard, African countries can develop regional value chains by working together to produce goods and services that can be sold to each other and to the rest of the world. This will improve the economy of countries in Africa since the values chains will offer the many necessary jobs to the people and spur development (Christiaensen, 2020). Secondly, the continent also needs to invest in infrastructure. African countries can borrow from multilateral banks and invest in infrastructural projects such as dams, roads, railways, and expansion of their ports to ease the transportation. This way, investors will be wowed to come and set up their production.

Thirdly, the continent also needs to improve education and training. African countries can overhaul their systems of education and training to provide their workforce with hands-on experience to help succeed in the global economy. The skills could include computer literacy, knowledge on the latest technologies used in manufacturing and problem-solving skills to develop design thinkers. The fourth point is to reduce trade barriers to make it easier for goods to move freely within the continent. This fete can be achieved by integrating supply chain management systems with the latest technologies to make verification of good across countries to be faster to speed up cross-boarder movements. The removal of trade barriers will offer immense markets and labour force across neighbouring countries which manufacturers can tap into.

Conclusion

By working together, African countries can overcome the obstacles and challenges that stand in their way and develop an alternative to Chinese industry for the Western world. This will help to diversify Africa's economies, create jobs for Africa's fast-growing population, and reduce the continent's reliance on foreign aid and investment. Generally, Africa has the potential to become a major economic power, but to do so, African countries need to join forces and develop an alternative to Chinese industry. This will not be easy, but it is essential if Africa is to achieve its full economic potential.

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