Unlocking Automotive Production Opportunities: Automotive Industry Policy Development and Implementation
The programme is implemented through collaboration between Afreximbank, the AfCFTA Secretariat, and the Association of African Automotive Manufacturers (AAAM), with the objective of strengthening the ability of African governments to unlock investment, industrialisation, and trade in the automotive sector. This initiative supports broader continental efforts to develop regional automotive value chains, enhance policy frameworks, and catalyse industrial growth across Africa’s automotive ecosystem. The training is being delivered by the Toyota Wessels Institute for Manufacturing Studies (TWIMS). Participants who complete the course will receive a Course Completion Certificate that is accredited by TWIMS, which is affiliated to South Africa’s leading Business School, the Gordon Institute of Business Science, University of Pretoria.
The purpose of the Executive Short Course (ESC) is to provide senior government officials across the membership of the AfCFTA with an opportunity to explore these automotive value chain dynamics. In doing so, officials will be exposed to the major opportunities and challenges associated with developing large-scale automotive production within diverse types of national economies and Regional Value Chains (RVCs). The ESC explores the vital role of national and sub-national governments in enabling firm-level and sectoral competitive advantage within the automotive Global Value Chains (GVC), and the importance of growing local and regional market demand to realise continental market and associated production opportunities.
The training programme is designed to:
- Ensure participants develop a comprehensive understanding of the global automotive industry and its Global Value Chains (GVC) structure. This will include careful consideration of global market dynamics; clear distinctions between vehicle assembly and production, the strategic importance of automotive component manufacturing, the structure of vehicle sales and aftersales/repair markets, and the management of End-of-Life Vehicles (ELVs).
- Explore the options for, and the basis of, advanced policy formulation in respect of automotive industry developments. The primary focus here will be the exploration of demand and supply side factors.
- Socialise the continental Automotive Strategy, the Rules of Origin (RoO) adopted by the Council of Ministers of Trade as well as the continental value chains study developed in partnership with Afreximbank, AfCFTA Secretariat and AAAM to encourage participants to prioritise value chains where comparative advantages exist.
- Explore the development potential of automotive (vehicle and component) production within the contexts of socio-economic dynamics and geography (national, regional). This relates to the five major market areas within the AfCFTA: North, South, Central, East and West Africa.
- Encourage strategic engagements between participants on the potential development of an African automotive market and production growth dynamics, encompassing the full automotive value chain (automotive components, vehicle production, vehicle sales and servicing, mobility fleet management, and ELVs).
- Explore emerging technologies and broader socio-economic changes that are reshaping the structure and development of the automotive industry. This includes the market shift to New Energy Vehicles, the emergence of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) business models, and the development of Autonomous Vehicles.
- Explore the international and regional automotive policy frameworks that govern the GVC, and their implications for the African automotive market.
- Explore firm-level, meso-level and macro-level factors underpinning automotive industry opportunities. This will entail the unbundling of the requirements for production, logistics, transportation, and specialist service requirements.