President Bola Tinubu's manufacturing push reflects a continent-wide frustration with extractive industries. African nations export raw materials only to reimport finished goods at higher costs, while local manufacturers struggle with expensive power, poor infrastructure, and high duties on imported inputs.

General Printers 2021, a Kenyan packaging company ranked 13th in the FT-Statista list, exemplifies these challenges. Despite serving major clients like Unilever and Coca-Cola, the firm pays 20-25% duties on raw materials, making imports from Sri Lanka cheaper than domestic production. The company employs 170 people after being rescued from bankruptcy by Patel's family group.

Other manufacturing survivors include Fieldbar, BUA Foods, Interplast, and Ciel, but they represent just 6% of the ranking's total. Former Wasoko founder Daniel Yu launched the African Jobs Fund with $100mn to invest in labor-intensive manufacturing over five years, abandoning tech-only solutions.

Yu sees potential in countries like Tanzania, where Dar es Salaam port efficiency improved under DP World management and new hydroelectric capacity promises cheaper power. The social returns could match Bangladesh's garment industry success, but only if pioneer firms can absorb first-mover costs and catalyze new industrial clusters.