UNIVERSITY OF MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

There are days when I wake up and ask God to raise men and women of vision, who will think out of the box.

Men and women with the vision and power to realise that if this country is to play a meaningful role in the industrialisation of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) it must aggressively act now to place the next generation of emaSwati in the forefront of manufacturing, which is the backbone of industrialisation. Our alliance with Taiwan and India, two leaders in manufacturing engineering and software development respectively must bear fruit more than ever.

Tibiyo leading industrial revolution  

Imagine if Tibiyo TakaNgwane had been able to keep the Spa Hotels group in Ezulwini and had decided to get Taiwanese and Indian partners to develop it into an Eswatini University of Manufacturing Engineering and Technology, the university would have set the stage for the SADC University His Majesty the King had promised. The viability of this university is almost guaranteed through the enrolment of young students from all SADC countries. In the students M. Tech or MS/ME Degrees in Manufacturing Engineering, these are some of the subjects that you’ll be taught:
* Advanced Manufacturing Technology.
* Research Methodology.
* Advanced Casting Technology.
* Manufacturing Automation.
* Production and Operation management.
* Technical aspects of Manufacturing Engineering.

Diploma in Plastic mould Technology

A Diploma in Plastic Mould Technology (DPMT) can be offered as a three-year course that students can join after completing high school or equivalent. When students choose the DPMT course they would focus on mould design, assembling of moulds, mould manufacture, and CNC milling. Moulding is the basis of the manufacture of all the items we use on a daily basis, such as plastic cups and the form plates used at funerals. This can extend to all types of more complicated items such as plastic chairs and tables.

Artificial intelligence, advanced robotics degrees, diplomas  

The National Taiwan University could support it with exchange programmes and lecturers. The National Taiwan University (NTU) is a comprehensive institution with many years of experience, and innovative in academic fields, and a high-quality environment for research and industry-academic cooperation.

Coding: Indian universities, colleges can partner  

Eswatini must be a step ahead in software development, programming data engineering and coding. Below are a few top Indian universities and colleges that offer programming language degrees for coders of tomorrow, which it can partner with:
* Hansraj College – Delhi;
* Sardar Patel Institute of Technology – Mumbai;
* Banaras Hindu University – Varanasi;
* Christ University – Bangalore;
* Amity University – Mohali.

SADC industrialisation strategy, roadmap

In August 2014, SADC Heads of State and Government considered and endorsed the summit theme: ‘SADC Strategy for Economic Transformation; Leveraging the Region’s Diverse.
Resources for Sustainable Economic and Social Development through Beneficiation and Value Addition’.  The theme reflected the urgent need for the region to leverage its abundant and diverse resources, especially in agriculture and mining, to accelerate industrialisation through beneficiation and value addition. To operationalise the theme in the SADC regional integration agenda, the summit resolved to develop a SADC industrialisation strategy and roadmap. In his speech, the late former President of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe, the then chairman of the organisation, said; “I am pleased to present the SADC industrialisation strategy and roadmap, 2015-2063, which was approved by the extraordinary summit in Harare, Zimbabwe, in April 2015. This is a historic achievement we should build on and use to transform our economies, to enhance economic growth, and create empowerment.”

Severe deficit of skills needed for industrial development

The strategy identified three factors that are binding constraints to the accelerated industrialisation of SADC and these are:
* Inadequate and poor quality infrastructure,
* A severe deficit of the skills needed for industrial development
* Insufficient finance.

The country’s reports show clearly that one of the three main obstacles to accelerated industrialisation in SADC are the scarcity of skills, especially those essential to progression up the technology ladder, and we will look at that particular constraint as the opportunity for the industrial revolution for Eswatini. His Majesty has spoken about the establishment of a SADC University in Eswatini on a number of occasions.

Manufacturing, production mindset

There is a need for the African youth to develop a new mindset in line with production than consumption. As emaSwati, we need to start refocusing our youth on starting to think in terms of manufacturing and production. They must start to ask questions about how is what we consume made, and why should we constantly import it. One might think this is simple but it is difficult for a young person to think this way. The average youth can’t even begin to imagine that he or she can buy a machine to produce paper cups or plastic spoons that he or she uses and discards every day.

I was brought up by a father who understood manufacturing as the key to success and I developed a mind that accepted manufacturing after having seen first hand an industrial biscuit-making machine, plastic shoe manufacturing machines, plastic/steel, aluminum moulding (to various household utensils) and industrial packing machines as a normal part of business. I was exposed to the intricate process of the production of flour from the arrival of wheat to the bagging of the complete product as white bread or brown bread flour. This is an intricate part of industrialisation which many young emaSwati think is impossible to venture into locally. This means asking them to get the skills required for industrialisation as their career and livelihood is not within their scope of knowledge. Also, emaSwati parents do not realise that there is a bigger world beyond degrees in accounting, civil engineering, law, doctor, teaching etc. If we are to effectively fight unemployment we need to expand our scope of learning and skills training. The fine arts, performing arts and other forms of arts can provide a decent living for a person with talent and determination. Comment septembereswatini@gmail.com

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