Binyam Tamene
2 April 2008
Addis Ababa — African governments will do well to focus on the Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) in order to make the current rapid development of the continent sustainable, Japanese development expert said on Monday Having admired the current growth of the continent, the expert recalled his countries experience of MSMEs back in 60s and 70s which were the base for the current huge companies in particular and the giant economy of Japan in general He said African Micro, Small; Medium-sized Enterprises could benefit from drawing a lesson from Japan's experience, which they will adapt in to the African context.
The Japanese expert was speaking at a public lecture he conducted under the title: 'The Importance of Private Sector Investment.' "Most of our large scale companies have based their source of supply from Micro, Small, Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs)," Masaki Miyaji, who is a corporate advisor to Mitsubishi Corporation said.
"Africans must change their mind setup and thoroughly utilize their human capital. History tells us that African's were the backbone of Japan's fast growing economy in the 1940s," he added.
"The investment must be derived by the people and resource together with foreign investment in order to diminish poverty in the continent," he said. "The investment, however, should be backed by the latest information and technology" he added Masaki Miyaji said there has to be a sequence of efforts initiating from identifying the market need at rural level together with creating favorable atmosphere to the rural credit scheme for individuals taking the Grameen Bank Model into account The Grameen Bank is a microfinance organization and community development bank started in Bangladesh that makes small loans (known as micro credit or "grameencredit") to the impoverished without requiring collateral.
"The sequence leads to the product service where Japan have a good experience in 'One Village, One Product' initiative" Masaki said adding that the initiative can create relationship with regional industries and industrial agglomerations.
The expert further indicated that Africa has to have its own protectionist measure until the economy become capable of competing with stronger ones "African countries must not hear or implement what the giant organizations tell them to do just because they force them too," he said "Africans have to have their own way of development as well as protection measure to defend their interest in the road to achieve the desired result," he added For the development to be achievable, the expert mentioned the big role that the private sector could play as 'key drivers for investment' and which also proves to be playing a key part in Africa, particularly Mozambique According to the corporate advisor, the Mozal Project in Mozambique can be seen as a great example how a private and government can jointly create a very good investment atmosphere "First and for most, competitiveness of production cost and government strong commitment and support should be given a priority," Masaki recommended.
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