<story><title>Apple supplier Foxconn to invest $1B in India, sources say</title><url>https://www.reuters.com/article/us-foxconn-india-apple-exclusive-idUSKBN24B2GH</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>achow</author><text>The main issue anywhere is the foresight and tenacity of the political (ruling) class. They have to do things which are long term by cutting back on short term and populist decisions.&lt;p&gt;That is one thing that is holding even India back. In democratic setup it is very difficult to take a long term view particularly when that comes with short term pain - the govt would be out in next election.&lt;p&gt;Africa should learn both from countries like China, Singapore and also from countries like India.&lt;p&gt;Otherwise I do agree that Africa is well placed to be the next manufacturing hub due to its cheap labor, mineral resources, coastlines etc.</text></item><item><author>pankajdoharey</author><text>Actually I think, the most ideal countries to expand manufacturing to are African countries, they have some of the same advantages once china had.&lt;p&gt;1. Mineral Resources.
2. Cheap Labour.
3. High Density of Lanthanide and Actinide group minerals.&lt;p&gt;China also has a fourth advantage which is a good mix of Production, Manufacturing and Electronics Engineers. Which Africa doesn&amp;#x27;t have. On the other hand India doesn&amp;#x27;t have the raw mineral resources required to do long term manufacturing. For instance India doesn&amp;#x27;t have the ideal coal quality to produce steel, India imports 90% of its Anthracite from Australia.&lt;p&gt;So the ideal situation in my view would be to setup manufacturing hub in African countries. Hire Chinese&amp;#x2F;Indian&amp;#x2F;American&amp;#x2F;Russian manufacturing Engineers and the rich mineral resources in African countries. This would fuel the growth of the world for next few decades. Though one thing to notice African countries may or may not have the rare earth metals but the probability if explored is quite high.</text></item><item><author>kodablah</author><text>&amp;gt; With India’s labour cheaper compared with China, and the gradual expansion of its supplier base here, Apple will be able to use the country as an export hub&lt;p&gt;While there are negatives, I appreciate how globalization of manufacturing helps lift poorer economies (albeit it slowly and not always agreeing with the politics of the newly-built middle classes). One might expect manufacturing in mid-Africa in two decades.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>godelmachine</author><text>&amp;gt;&amp;gt;&lt;i&gt;That is one thing that is holding even India back. In democratic setup it is very difficult to take a long term view particularly when that comes with short term pain - the govt would be out in next election.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;The one thing you can count India on is that democracy will prevail.&lt;p&gt;Any government which comes to power will always appease industrialists and investors albeit their electioneering manifesto may have been on the upliftment of the proletariat and bourgeois</text></comment>
<story><title>Apple supplier Foxconn to invest $1B in India, sources say</title><url>https://www.reuters.com/article/us-foxconn-india-apple-exclusive-idUSKBN24B2GH</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>achow</author><text>The main issue anywhere is the foresight and tenacity of the political (ruling) class. They have to do things which are long term by cutting back on short term and populist decisions.&lt;p&gt;That is one thing that is holding even India back. In democratic setup it is very difficult to take a long term view particularly when that comes with short term pain - the govt would be out in next election.&lt;p&gt;Africa should learn both from countries like China, Singapore and also from countries like India.&lt;p&gt;Otherwise I do agree that Africa is well placed to be the next manufacturing hub due to its cheap labor, mineral resources, coastlines etc.</text></item><item><author>pankajdoharey</author><text>Actually I think, the most ideal countries to expand manufacturing to are African countries, they have some of the same advantages once china had.&lt;p&gt;1. Mineral Resources.
2. Cheap Labour.
3. High Density of Lanthanide and Actinide group minerals.&lt;p&gt;China also has a fourth advantage which is a good mix of Production, Manufacturing and Electronics Engineers. Which Africa doesn&amp;#x27;t have. On the other hand India doesn&amp;#x27;t have the raw mineral resources required to do long term manufacturing. For instance India doesn&amp;#x27;t have the ideal coal quality to produce steel, India imports 90% of its Anthracite from Australia.&lt;p&gt;So the ideal situation in my view would be to setup manufacturing hub in African countries. Hire Chinese&amp;#x2F;Indian&amp;#x2F;American&amp;#x2F;Russian manufacturing Engineers and the rich mineral resources in African countries. This would fuel the growth of the world for next few decades. Though one thing to notice African countries may or may not have the rare earth metals but the probability if explored is quite high.</text></item><item><author>kodablah</author><text>&amp;gt; With India’s labour cheaper compared with China, and the gradual expansion of its supplier base here, Apple will be able to use the country as an export hub&lt;p&gt;While there are negatives, I appreciate how globalization of manufacturing helps lift poorer economies (albeit it slowly and not always agreeing with the politics of the newly-built middle classes). One might expect manufacturing in mid-Africa in two decades.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>imnewtohn</author><text>&amp;gt; That is one thing that is holding even India back. In democratic setup it is very difficult to take a long term view particularly when that comes with short term pain - the govt would be out in next election. Africa should learn both from countries like China, Singapore...&lt;p&gt;What do you mean, become autocratic&amp;#x2F;centralized&amp;#x2F;...or whatever other word you want to choose. That&amp;#x27;s a quick one way ticket to getting invaded and thrown out by the US government.</text></comment>