The CAI generates rigorous, industry-engaged research on manufacturing in South Africa and across the African continent and convenes the partners needed to act on it.
At the Centre for African Industrialisation (CAI) we believe that Africa’s economic sovereignty lies in its ability to build, create, and trade. We are a dedicated hub focused on shifting the continent from resource-based and agricultural economies to global manufacturing powerhouses.
The CAI is affiliated with TWIMS (twimsafrica.com)
The Centre for African Industrialisation is a recently established research centre, hosted at TWIMS Africa. It is anchored in South Africa, with a research and partnership agenda that extends across the African continent. The Centre studies manufacturing and industrialisation in Africa: what it takes to build, sustain and grow productive industrial capacity, and the conditions under which African manufacturers can compete.
Why CAI exists
African manufacturing is under-studied relative to its strategic importance. The research agenda of the CAI is based on four pillars:
Industry-engaged independence
The CAI works closely with manufacturers to understand their constraints, while remaining institutionally independent so that its findings are credible to government, industry and academic peers alike.
A pan-African manufacturing focus
The CAI treats industrialisation as a continental question. While the initial focus is South Africa, our research ambition is pan-African.
Bridging research, policy and practice
The Centre is built to connect academic rigour, policy relevance, and firm-level practice in a single institution.
Original empirical evidence
CAI is built to generate new firm-level and industry-level data through focused empirical research, and not only to synthesise existing literature.