Reverse Engineering and the Made-in-Asia Dream

Once upon a time, electronic and auto products made in Asian countries were tagged 'inferior' to their Western alternatives, perhaps they were. For instance, during my early childhood years, I learnt to associate anything marked by a 'Made in Taiwan' label with something less than the 'acceptable' standard.




Many Asian firms started and grew mostly through reverse engineering processes, by which they sought to imitate and replicate technology standards created by industrialised countries. Their processes rode on cheaper location costs, enabling policy environments and change vanguards in local industry, to birth some of the most competitive and adaptive products in the global market.



Today, it is needless to say that China and neighbouring Asia are a go-to for skilled labour and manufacturing solutions. Apparently, there may be lessons in economic and business history for latecomer African manufacturing. 

 


With sheer enterprise and human rights-based initiative, laced with political will to create enabling infrastructure, structure, intrastructure, and culture, Africa can be the next go-to for miscellanous solutions to the challenges of the planet.



Choose to say yes to Nigeria and Africa now! All naysayers on the planet will soon be here to take notes.



Photo credit: Dreamstime via Google


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