There are countries in this world that do not have much by way of natural resources but have adequate exports to keep their economies ticking. They depend on sheer human ingenuity to generate their exports. Japan is one of such countries. According to 2020 figures, Japan’s highest export sales figures were realised from transport machinery, followed by non-transport machinery, nuclear reactors and boilers, with electrical/electronic equipment taking the third position.
The three categories contributed a handsome USD346.82 in export sales. By contrast, Malawi exported goods worth a paltry USD0.79 in the same year. This figure is from all export categories, most of which were raw commodities. We can up our game by migrating to innovative products instead of relying on tobacco year in, year out.
We can take a cue from other African countries, which are strengthening their manufacturing capacity so that they can, at the very least, stop their forex hemorrhage by effecting import substitutions. Ghana and Nigeria, for example, assemble their own vehicles and so do Uganda, closer to home.
Recently, the President of Uganda commissioned an infantry vehicle designed and manufactured in Uganda. It has been nicknamed Chui, a Swahili word for leopard. An earlier Ugandan made infantry vehicle was nicknamed Nyoka, which means snake in Swahili.
“I am happy that you (army) are towing this line. Uganda spends over $550m each year on importing vehicles from Japan & Europe. All the money we get from selling coffee (about $500m) goes back to Europe through the importation of vehicles. This must stop,” Museveni is quoted by army-technology.com as having tweeted.
During the launch of the Chui, President Museveni bragged about Uganda having become a “superpower”. This claim is not without merit as such innovative products are few and far between on the African continent.
Malawi was once on the right footing when it started producing its own local brand of vehicles. But the Zonse brand, assembled by the Central African Transport Company (CATCO), was short lived. Many Malawians have not heard of this venture and would be surprised to learn that we did produce Malawian cars in the 1970s.
I would urge institutions like the Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (MUBAS) or the Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST) to pick up the pieces and chart the way forward in motor vehicle and other technologies. The Ugandan vehicle manufacturing sector is maturing, courtesy of Makelere University’s Engineering Department which championed a Ugandan car called Kiira.
Following the pioneering work by the University of Makelere, a commercial statutory enterprise was set up in Uganda to manufacture vehicles. They have a number of makes in their range of vehicles including Kayoola Diesel Coach, Kayoola EVS, Kiira EV, Kiira EV SMACK, Kayoola Solar Bus and Kiira EVS.
Uganda’s Kiira vehicles are a brainchild of Makerere University, under the leadership of former Engineering faculty member, Dr. Musasizi, who is now CEO of Kiira Motors. We have equally capable faculty members in the Malawian institutions I have mentioned above. Even those I did not mention can surely join any project aimed at manufacturing vehicles in Malawi.
I visited the design studio at MUBAS a number of times and I was impressed with its capabilities. When I first visited it in 2017, the first 3D printer in Malawi had just been installed there. It was, at that time, the only laboratory between South Africa and Kenya with a 3D printer. In short the MUBAS (then Polytechnic) design studio had such an impressive suite of equipment that to ask them to design a vehicle would not be asking for the Moon.
Manufacturing vehicles in Malawi may not immediately translate into generation of forex, but it will help us save the forex we currently spend on importing vehicles from Japan, Europe or China. Whatever we earn from our tobacco evaporates as soon as we import fuel and fertilizer. We strain to import anything else, including vehicles. Therefore local manufacturing of vehicles will be a huge relief.
Let us assume for a moment that it has been possible to design and manufacture a Malawian vehicle. Someone will trash it at the drop of a hat because it will fall far short of the quality they have been accustomed to on vehicles from Japan or Germany. Germany has been making cars for over a hundred years now and Japan a little less than that. It will be crazy to compare a Malawian vehicle (currently imaginary) to those made by the veterans. But with time, and proper feedback, the quality should improve. What is important is to take the first step, and that we have not done yet.