Westar Manufacturing blog
AGOA - African Growth Opportunity Act with the USA
AGOA has afforded SSA countries an opportunity to get liberal
market access to the USA without any free trade agreement.
Currently more than 98% of USA imports from AGOAbenefi
ciary countries are duty free. Through AGOA, some African
countries also have access to USA credit and technical
skills, and all have economic engagement with the USA using
the USA-SSA Trade and Economic Forum commonly called
the “AGOA Forum”.
On the other hand, USA fi rms have found new opportunities for
investment and partnerships in Africa through AGOA. Some
opportunities were created through privatisation of stateowned
enterprises and others through partnerships with African
fi rms in infrastructure projects.
Imports by the USA from AGOA countries increased over the
period 2000 to 2008, despite slumps in 2001 and 2002. AGOA
agricultural exports to US made up 18 % (down from 23 % in
2007) of the total exports from SSA. Trade between the USA
and SSA countries were highly concentrated on specifi c products,
with a small number of African countries accounting for a
large share of the total for both imports and exports.
Advanced manufacturing to drive industrialisation
He was speaking at a two-day Annual Manufacturing Indaba in Kempton Park on Monday. The aim of the conference is to boost the growth potential of key manufacturing industry sectors, and to provide a platform for informative sessions with the prime movers of the nation's manufacturing sectors.
Government must give guidelines regarding APDP
The Department of Trade and Industry (dti) needs to give urgent attention to the guidelines regarding the future of the Automotive Production and Development Programme (APDP).
This was the message during a conference arranged by the National Association of Automotive Component and Allied Manufacturers (NAACAM) at Automechanika Johannesburg in May.
The delegates had been hoping that the dti would announce the results of its APDP review at the conference as two representatives from the government department were to have been speakers on the day. However, Lionel October, the Director-General, and Roger Pitot, APDP specialist, declined to attend on the basis that they were still awaiting finality of the document and its approval by Cabinet.
Robert Houdet, the executive director of NAACAM, said delays in the publication of the review impacted on the ability of vehicle and component manufacturers to draw up future production plans. "South Africa is nowadays producing only 0.6% of global vehicles and manufacturers could easily move production to factories in other parts of the world if there were delays in providing details of the way the APDP was to be changed following the review process," explained Houdet.
ZF Services SA launches Lemförder brand locally
Gauteng-based ZF Services says the range of Lemförder parts will cater for a wide range of vehicles, from older generation models to the latest ranges. Lemförder has been a supplier of OE quality steering and suspension replacement parts since 1984. The range currently focuses on European brands with a product portfolio for Asian brands to be introduced at a later date.
ZF Services SA supplies its range of Sachs and now Lemförder parts through a network of distributors in Southern Africa. All Lemförder products are included in the ZF Services electronic parts catalogue, WebCat, available on www.zf.com.
Annual Manufacturing Report 2015
This year’s survey of manufacturers attracted responses from all areas and activities, from automotive, aerospace and agribusiness to plastics, renewables and steel.
To download the Full Report, click on the following link http://wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Annual-Manufacturing-Report-2015-single-pages.pdf
Chinese rail company buys UK maritime engineering firm
UK ocean engineering product manufacturer Specialist Machine Developments (SMD) has been bought by a subsidiary of China South Rail (CSR).
The SKA Project
South Africa has already demonstrated its excellent science and engineering skills by designing and building the MeerKAT telescope – as a pathfinder to the SKA. The first seven dishes, KAT-7, are complete and have already produced its first pictures. MeerKAT is attracting great interest internationally – more than 500 international astronomers and 58 from Africa submitted proposals to do science with MeerKAT once it is complete.
The technology being developed for MeerKAT is cutting-edge and the project is creating a large group of young scientists and engineers with world-class expertise in the technologies which will be crucial in the next 10 – 20 years, such as very fast computing, very fast data transport, large networks of sensors, software radios and imaging algorithms.
Since 2005, the African SKA Human Capital Development Programme has awarded close to 600 grants (2014) for studies in astronomy and engineering from undergraduate to post-doctoral level, while also investing in training programmes for technicians. Astronomy courses are being taught as a result of the SKA Africa project in Kenya, Mozambique, Madagascar and Mauritius (which has had a radio telescope for many years) and are soon to start in other countries.
To read further about this project, you can click on the following link http://www.ska.ac.za/index.php