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First African-made smartphones a sign of upgraded
plastics industry

Africa is getting some attention this week in manufacturing and plastics, with news that a South

African startup is planning to start the first-ever production of smartphones and tablet computers

on the continent.

The Bloomberg story says that Onyx Connect, a managed to have stayed on par with the country’s GDP
South African startup in Johannesburg, plans to set growth, this is still far below the average plastics growth

up the first local smartphone factory in Africa. The story of three percent worldwide. We need to put on our

says the company plans to take advantage of Africa’s innovators’ caps.”

low cost. South Africa’s rand has dropped 40 percent He said that South Africa’s plastics processing industry
against the U.S. dollar in the last five years, which has must resist being stuck — “unlikely to be able to compete
both made imported phones pricier and made it cheaper with the first world [and its] technological advancement,”
to manufacture in South Africa, which is Africa’s most and at the same time “not able to compete with companies
industrialized country. from the Far East on price.”

The company also tells Bloomberg it will be sourcing Like Onyx, he advocates a locally focused path.
plastic housings for the phones locally. Onyx plans to make
“We are in the unique position of understanding the
simple phones it says challenges we face on the African continent, and as such
it can make a phone we must push ourselves to find innovative solutions for
with camera and one the African environment,” Mahl said. One global plastics
gigabyte of memory supplier is also keying on the potential to upgrade Africa’s
for about $30, industry.
licensing Google’s

Android system. The U.S. blender, dryer and auxiliary equipment maker
company says it has Maguire Products made that argument this week at AMI’s
a long background in sourcing and manufacturing in China “Plastics in Africa” conference, saying that raw materials

and still plans to get components like circuit boards from automation is a crucial need for industry there. That’s a

China, but will be doing most of the manufacturing in sales pitch, of course, but Maguire argues that African

Africa. While there clearly are challenges for Onyx to firms’ over-reliance on labor and not using enough

be going up against the very competitive Asian phone automation in their material handling ultimately costs

manufacturing industry, the company feels there’s now them money, since materials can account for 80 percent

enough demand in Africa to support a local factory. And of production costs.

it notes that it plans to use its own phone designs, with Maguire said it’s worked with companies throughout the
local research and development staff. continent to demonstrate the economic case for those

South Africa’s plastics industry makes a similar point upgrades. African-made smartphones. Local plastics

about the value of pursuing locally based innovation. The companies keyed on African-themed innovation as a

chairman of the country’s Plastics|SA trade association, competitive path. And global firms arguing that the time

Bernard Mahl, said wrapping up the group’s 2016 activities is right for more automation among local processors.

that innovation driven by African markets is a good path It was interesting to see these three pieces come across
forward for local plastics companies, as they try to carve my desk in the same week. I’m not going to pretend to
out a competitive niche against global rivals. “If we look be enough of an expert in conditions in Africa to say it
at the past 5 – 10 years, the South African plastics industry definitely means something big, but it does seem these
has not recorded any real growth,” he said. “Whilst we three items could be telling us something.

• December 2016 • Plastics News 62