Industrialisation and its strategies
How does a country grow richer and create lasting jobs? One of the most powerful answers is industrialisation — moving from simply digging up minerals and growing crops, to making finished goods in factories. In this lesson we define industrialisation and the growth of secondary industry, look at what makes modern factory production special, weigh up the different strategies a country can use to industrialise (import substitution, export industries, MNCs, joint enterprises, state enterprises and PPPs), meet the Newly Industrialised Countries and the role of the state in their success, and finish by asking how Namibia can grow its key industries — mining, fishing, agriculture, textiles and tourism — in a sustainable way, above all by adding value at home.
By the end you should be able to (NSSCO Development Studies 4.1):
- Define and explain the process of industrialisation — a country shifting from mainly farming and raw materials to manufacturing in factories (the growth of secondary industry)
- Identify, with examples from specific industries, the characteristics of modern industrial production: complex machinery, advanced technology, a wide range of raw materials, a complex division of labour, and the coordination of specialised tasks
- Describe different strategies for industrialisation and evaluate their advantages and disadvantages: import substitution, export-orientated industries, large-scale and small-scale, multinational companies (MNCs), local investors and joint enterprises, state enterprises, and public–private partnerships (PPP)
- Identify examples of Newly Industrialised Countries (NICs) and evaluate the role of the state in their development (e.g. South Africa, India, Philippines, Indonesia, South Korea)
- Discuss the importance of key industries to Namibia's social and economic development: mining, fishing, agriculture, textiles and tourism
- Suggest possible sustainable ways of increasing production in Namibian industries: value-added processing, foreign-investor joint ventures with locals, adoption of modern production processes, and further research and exploration
Miss Catherine and Mike talk through the whole topic — with the figure and working drawn live.