The economic survival and prosperity of African economies can meaningfully be actualised if Africans themselves form a unified economic system, where their strategic interests and targets can effectively assume a purely capitalist business structure to proactively execute every aspect of entrepreneurial engagements in an efficient manner. The era of external influence by colonial masters over former colonies within the region, with perceived continuous control should be disallowed, and should also, not in any way be indirectly entertained through those in the leadership cadre of governance, any longer.
Such total disconnect shall serve as an avenue to strategically reposition the continental business management structure, where decisions are taken on the basis of total value creation and its commensurate returns to the businesses involved (whether private- or state- owned business entity). This therefore, speaks to innovative and unique policy that suits the African local environment in trade relations at all global levels. This is the proposed business model of the continental trade agreement; Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) needs to solely pioneer, champion, implement and patriotically pursue with vigour and matching aggression, to grow the African economy by applying the business strategy of backward integration.
The idea of recognising the continent as the world’s raw materials hub shall seize if the abundant natural and human resources are effectively channeled to yield optimally; once the indigenous businesses take full control of earlier stages in the supply chain, with improved quality of mercantile goods originating from Africa, attractive competitive pricing (as a gained competitive edge from the raw material that is locally sourced) better than relying on the imported finished goods in the international market. This is feasible once the government provides a level playing ground for businesses to thrive (this is to say, the ease of doing business, equipped with steady power supply, shall be the core responsibility of the governments within the continent) because labour is cheap within the continent, and the job market shall constantly be engaged effectively with an anticipated rise in productivity (all things being equal).
The backward integration strategy, definitely, brings the value addition on the locally sourced raw materials in-house, at ridiculously low production cost, which effectively competes with finished goods from external vendors that still got their very cheap raw materials from Africa, and turns back to supply the finished goods to the same African markets exploitatively, at highly exorbitant rates. The trend and the schemes are what impoverish the continent. This tide definitely has to be strategically reversed in the world trade order, where the annual trading balance sheet should start registering surplus balance for the African economies that provide, add value by recreating the raw materials, and also produce finished goods and export to other consumer nations, while still remaining self sufficient, domestically.
These economic and commercial activities are to be designed, to strategically perform optimally, under the strategic backward integration initiative. The unprecedented trajectory of this economic policy yield is expected to exponentially rise for the continent, once the jinx of an impoverished world raw material hub is sustainably broken through this proposed backward integration strategy! Thereafter, it would be a wonder why Africa cannot be recognised as a super power!
The African continent should solve her problems, and never depend on foreign intervention; which has been identified as the missing link for not realizing the long overdue economic prosperity through wealth creation in the light of the readily available economic potentials from her abundant rich natural resources (minerals, petroleum, and tropical agricultural produce).
A classical testimony about the continental economic prosperity being proposed through this model of backward integration strategy for wealth creation, can be x-rayed with the business life and the entrepreneurial leadership prowess of the Africa’s richest business tycoon, Aliko Dangote, through his dynamic management structure and the sustainable style he applied in building his business empire.
The Dangote group of companies no doubt, has become a very successful story for African businesses of our times, to emulate. Extrapolating this success story to Africa’s economic growth vision, and the aspirational business plan to become a super power, economically, is not farfetched. It therefore demands that a golden leaf should be borrowed by disciplined minds of continental legacy builders (indigenous business investors), from the Dangote group to rewrite an African economy that is competitive, strong, and a virile sustainable continental institution builder. The way and manner Dangote trained his three daughters for leadership in business responsibilities (Mariya as a business strategist, Halima as a dealmaker, and Fatima as a business diplomat); is actually what the continent might need to do with its abundantly endowed rich natural resources in the entire 54 African economies.
The numerous and diverse minerals are divinely distributed. These should be manned and recreated with mastery and professional expertise by applying the economic principle of comparative advantage. This, the continent should do to optimally harness and exploit the fiduciary benefits therein, through wealth creation in the efforts of recreating the raw materials along their respective value chains.
