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Conference name: Africa Kaizen Annual Conference (AKAC)
Date: Monday, October 9 – Tuesday, October 10, 2023
Organized jointly by the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), the Government of Ethiopia, and JICA
Location: Ethiopia (Addis Ababa)
Main Participants
The meeting was attended in person by 238 donors and other stakeholders from 22 African countries. There were 151 online participants from 25 countries. The Ethiopian Minister of Industry, Mr. Merak, was joined by representatives of national kaizen promotion agencies, the Pan-African Productivity Association (PAPA), the Director of Partnerships of the African Union Commission (AUC), Mr. Lalande, Director General of AUDA-NEPAD, Mr. Bekele-Thomas, experts, donors from the International Labour Organization (ILO), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), etc., the Japanese Ambassador to Ethiopia, Mr. Ito, the Japanese Ambassador to the United Nations, etc. From JICA, Director Imoto, International Cooperation Specialist Homma (Senior Advisor to the Director General of AUDA-NEPAD), and others attended. Online audiences included JICA project officials, donors, experts, and business people.
Background and Objectives
The Africa Kaizen Initiative (AKI) is a 10-year initiative launched in 2017 by AUDA-NEPAD and JICA, following the announcement of the Kaizen Initiative’s Africa-wide promotion at the 6th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICADVI) in 2016.
Through discussions and networking among stakeholders, the annual meetings are designed to share the policy implications of implementing kaizen, findings and lessons learned in each country, deepen understanding of kaizen, and discuss future course of action. So far, the annual meeting has been held in Ethiopia in 2016, a knowledge-sharing seminar in Kenya in 2017, and has become an annual meeting since it was held in South Africa in 2018, with hybrid meetings held in Tunisia in 2019, online in 2020, in Tanzania in 2021, and in Cameroon in 2022.
Contents
(1) Panel Discussion on Centers Of Excellence (COE)
Under the theme of “Strengthening COEs to Spread Kaizen throughout the African Continent,” a panel discussion was held among PAPA, the National Institute of Industrial Technology (INTI), and the Asian Productivity Organization (APO), which have long been implementing the role of COEs. Examples of COEs in Africa, Latin America, and Asia were introduced, and a lively exchange of views took place.
(2) Panel Session on Quality and Productivity Improvement Initiatives in Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and Industrial Parks
Panelists from Ethiopia (Investment Commission, Hawassa Industrial Park Investors Association, KEC), South Africa (Automotive Industry Development Centre), Mauritius (National Productivity and Competitiveness Commission (NPCC)), and AUDA-NEPAD gave keynote presentations by Mr. Homma, International Cooperation Specialist (JICA / AUDA-NEPAD). The panelists discussed case studies from each country and the significance of kaizen/quality and productivity improvement in SEZs/industrial parks, based on the keynote presentation by Mr. Homma, International Cooperation Specialist (JICA / AUDA-NEPAD).
(3) AKI Working Group (WG) activity reports and Cross Functional Working Group (CFWG) presentations
The AKI Secretariat of AUDA-NEPAD reported on the progress of activities from the five working groups (WGs) (Credentialing, Curriculum, Outcome Indicators, Annual Meetings and Awards, and Core Centers) that are implementing AKI activities. In addition, the Cross Functional Working Group was established and its members were announced based on the Action Plan for 2024-2027.
(4) 5th Africa Kaizen Award
Fifteen companies from nine countries, mainly from the countries involved in the project, applied for the awards, and the results of the screening were announced on the day of the event. Based on the screening by the jury consisting of domestic and international experts, two companies from Tunisia won the Grand Prize and the Excellence Award in the Large Company category, while a company from Mauritius won the Grand Prize and a company from Ghana won the Excellence Award in the Small and Medium Enterprise category.
(5) COE Capacity Enhancement Program
The first capacity-building training program for AKI COEs was held at the TICAD Industrial Human Resources Development Center for four days from October 11 to 14 as a supplementary program to AKAC2023. 34 participants from 11 countries and 2 institutions, 55 people including related parties, took part in the program. The program provided an opportunity for active discussions, learning, and networking as a COE training program by Africa for Africa, with the participants themselves serving as lecturers.
Materials
Day 1
© Source JICA