The Minister of Employment and Labour, Nomakhosazana Meth, challenged the 2025 Africa Kaizen Conference to rethink and reshape international partnerships.

Speaking at the opening of the conference, at the Birchwood Hotel and Conference Centre today, 27 October 2025, in Johannesburg, Gauteng Province, Minister Meth said: “Cooperation must be about co-creation, co-investment, and technology transfer."

Held under the theme “African Industrialisation through Fostering Competitive Firms and Value Chains", the conference is attended by delegates from around the continent with the intention of advancing the quality and productivity improvement (QPI) or Kaizen. The Conference brings together policy makers, academics, and QPI practitioners to share their knowledge and experiences.

Minister Meth told the delegates that Africa does not seek aid but equitable industrial partnerships that build productive capacity, technology ecosystems, and jobs on African soil.

She said Industrialisation must no longer be a dream deferred but must be a coordinated continental project powered by competitive African firms, regional value chains, and technological leapfrogging. In highlighting progress, Meth mentioned Dangote Industries (Nigeria), MTN and Safaricom (South Africa and Kenya), Ethiopia's industrial parks, Morocco, and Egypt as success stories for Africa.

Meth said these are great successes, “but much more still needs to be done. You may agree with me that our young engineers, doctors, coders, and artisans power industries from Silicon Valley to Shanghai – building economies across continents."

Meth told the representatives that Indigenous knowledge systems are blueprints for future sustainability. “We must integrate this knowledge into modern industrial design, environmental science, and sustainable production."

She said the Kaizen philosophy of continuous improvement aligns perfectly with African values of Ubuntu, collective advancement, and resilience through learning. “It is important, therefore, that productivity must not erase our identity built around indigenous systems, but it must elevate it," she said.

“Let us make productivity our creed, industrialisation our mission, and competitiveness our collective destiny," Minister Meth concluded.

The conference will conclude tomorrow, 28 October, with the presentation of South African Productivity Awards to top-performing companies.

Enquiries:
Teboho Thejane
Departmental Spokesperson
E-mail: teboho.thejane@labour.gov.za
Cell: 082 697 0694

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