The Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Design and Technology Institute (DTI), Constance Swaniker has said, Africa can become the next production hub if businesses are able to ensure precision quality and standardisation.

Ms. Swaniker said, if the informal sector which employs about 70 to 80 percent of the continents working population is able to add value to the products and services it delivers, Africa can become production hub in the next few years.

She spoke to Joy Business at the 3rd Precision Quality conference organised by Design and Technology Institute on the theme: “The Precision Quality Policy Framework: A Building Block for Systems Change and Industrial Transformation”.

According to her, there a lot of opportunities which exist by way of job creation and expansion into other markets.

“I always say Africa can be become the next China once we get the basic building blocks right. The covid-19 pandemic has brought to bear the need to produce and kick-start an industrial drive. If we are able to train the continents work force to understand that precision and standardisation leads to effective scalability, then we can realize our industrialisation agenda. “

The Country Director of MasterCard Foundation, Rosy Fynn underscored the need for young people to be trained with the right skills for the ever changing job landscape. 

According to her, stakeholders would have to be deliberate in formulating policies which will contribute to equipping the youth with the right skills set for the job market and prepare them to be budding entrepreneurs.  

“Creating the platform for young people to acquire the skills they require for work and entrepreneurship is one of the critical contributions we can make to prepare them for the future. To make young people net creators of jobs, we must be intentional about building an innate entrepreneurial drive to create job opportunities for themselves and their peers.”

The President of the African Organisation for Standardisation (ARSO) and professor-In-Residence at the Precision Quality Centre of Excellence Prof. Alex Duodu, said transformation of countries begin with a shift in the mindset.

He further noted that, there are a lot of jobs that can be created in various sectors of the economy by adding value to produce.

He cited the agricultural value chain as one area with an enormous potential to employ people.

The 3rd National Precision Quality Conference is organised by the Design and Technology Institute of Ghana with support from the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations, The National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), The Commission for Technical and Vocational Education (CTVET), The Ghana Standards Authority and the MasterCard Foundation.