Several African countries are already punching above their weight in manufacturing despite intense Chinese competition.

They don’t beat China on scale; they build around strategic advantages, policy discipline, clustering, local content rules and export linkages.

Below I profile Morocco, Egypt, Ethiopia, South Africa and Kenya — what each has achieved, how they’ve insulated or upgraded their manufacturing base, and the lessons other countries can copy. (Sources for key facts are cited after the load-bearing claims.)

1) Morocco — automotive, aeronautics and targeted industrial policy

What’s happening: Morocco has built an export-oriented manufacturing engine centered on autos, aeronautics and now EV components. It hosts major plants from Renault and Stellantis and exported hundreds of thousands of vehicles in recent years; the Tanger Med gateway turned Morocco into a low-cost, EU-facing manufacturing hub. Morocco is also actively courting EV battery makers to capture more of the value chain. 

How it competes:

• Anchor investors: attract a few big global OEMs (automakers) whose investments create dense component supplier networks.

• Connectivity-first: invest in world-class ports/roads (Tanger Med) so regional shipping costs are low.

• Incentives with performance: offer packages tied to export performance and local content.

• Targeted upstream capture: now moving into batteries and components so more of the value chain stays onshore. 

Lesson: pick industries where you can plug into a nearby large market (EU), create anchor investors that catalyse clusters, and use infrastructure + incentives to make local suppliers competitive.

2) Egypt — textiles, integrated zones and scale advantage for garments

What’s happening: Egypt’s garments and textiles have seen major export growth, helped by cotton endowment, industrial zones around the Suez corridor, and policy focus on readymade garments and integrated supply chains. Egypt’s garment exports climbed strongly in recent periods and SCZone industrial parks are pulling in firms. 

How it competes:

• Raw material to finished goods: Egypt leverages local cotton and spinning/weaving capacity to make garments domestically rather than exporting raw fibre.

• Suez corridor advantage: proximity to Europe and efficient logistics reduce lead times and freight costs vs. distant Chinese producers.

• Integrated industrial parks: the Suez Canal Economic Zone and other parks offer plug-and-play facilities, customs facilitation and fiscal incentives that lower investor risk. 

Lesson: combine local raw material endowment with logistics advantages and integrated zones to capture processing value rather than just exporting commodities.

3) Ethiopia — low-cost apparel clusters and deliberate industrial park strategy

What’s happening: Ethiopia built industrial parks (e.g., Hawassa) deliberately to attract apparel and light manufacturers using duty-free access and low wages to attract buyers and suppliers; Hawassa produced significant export revenue and employed tens of thousands in garment factories. Chinese firms were part of the story, but parks brought global buyers and integrated training and services. 

How it competes:

• State-led industrial parks: provide power, roads, customs, one-stop investor services — reducing overheads and the cost of doing business for manufacturers.

• Buyer linkages: parks are structured to attract brand buyers (EU/US) who demand compliance, steady quality and volumes, which brings predictable orders.

• Skills+incentives: combine low wages with focused vocational training to improve productivity fast. 

Lesson: where cheap labour exists, pairing it with industrial parks, direct buyer relationships and compliance standards can create export niches that compete on speed and cost — not by outspending China but by being a viable, nearshore alternative for brands.

4) South Africa — diversified, higher-value manufacturing and policy focus on localisation

What’s happening: South Africa still hosts advanced manufacturing (automotive, chemicals, metal fabrication) and has policies (like the Automotive Master Plan) designed to increase local content, upgrade suppliers and promote investment in higher-value manufacturing. The sector contributes materially to GDP and industrial output and actively negotiates local industrial linkages with foreign investors. 

How it competes:

• Move up the value chain: focus on components, metallurgy, capital goods and assembly that require higher skills and local engineering capacity where China has less short-term advantage.

• Industrial planning and protections: negotiated sectoral plans (automotive master plans) tie incentives to localisation and supplier development.

• Strategic partnerships: leverage deals with both Western and Asian firms to upgrade assembly lines from SKD (semi knocked-down) to fuller local manufacturing. 

Lesson: protect and nurture higher-value niches where domestic capability and supplier networks exist, and use negotiated industry strategies (not one-size tariff policies) to raise the bar for foreign investors who want local benefits.

5) Kenya — SEZs, light manufacturing and hub strategy for East Africa

What’s happening: Kenya is building Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and industrial parks (Vipingo, Konza, Meru, and others) linked to a growing local market and regional trade. Policy documents show strategic plans to use SEZs to attract assembly, agro-processing and light manufacturing that serve East Africa. Recent years include reforms to make SEZs investor friendly. 

How it competes:

• Regional hub logic: serve East Africa (EAC market) so Kenyan factories scale within the region before taking on global competition.

• SEZ incentives + logistics: create concentrated hubs with easier customs, tax incentives and infrastructure to lower unit costs.

• Agro-processing & light manufacturing: build on local agriculture to add value (packaging, processing) rather than competing head-on in textiles with China. 

Lesson: use SEZs and regional markets to capture scale, concentrate supplier networks, and focus on sectors where domestic inputs give a real cost/quality edge.

Cross-cutting lessons — how these winners tilt the balance back toward local firms

1. Anchor investors + clusters: Attracting one or two large manufacturers creates supplier demand that helps local suppliers scale (Morocco, South Africa). 

2. Logistics and proximity matter: Shorter freight times to big markets (Morocco→EU, Egypt→Europe) can outweigh pure unit-cost disadvantages of Chinese producers. 

3. Industrial parks / SEZs reduce entry friction: parks package land, power, customs, and one-stop services so manufacturers can operate closer to global standards without huge upfront risk (Ethiopia, Kenya, Egypt). 

4. Policy conditionality and localisation: tying incentives and tariff benefits to local content, training and supplier development forces investors to build local linkages (Morocco and South Africa examples). 

5. Leverage local raw materials & niches: countries that process local resources (Egypt’s cotton → garments; Morocco’s phosphate derivatives; Kenya’s agro-processing) retain more value. 

What other African countries must do to replicate success

• Choose industries strategically: don’t try to beat China at commodity finished-goods where China has huge scale—opt for proximity niches, regional markets and sectors tied to local inputs.

• Build infrastructure first: ports, power and special zones materially lower unit costs and reduce the advantage of cheap imports.

• Negotiate investor obligations: make incentives conditional on local content, technology transfer, and phased localisation targets.

• Invest in skills and supplier development: vocational training, supplier development programs and finance for SMEs to plug into clusters.

• Use AfCFTA to create scale: exploit continental market integration to scale factories before confronting global giants.

• Protect temporarily (smartly): measured tariffs, anti-dumping measures and public procurement rules can give infant industries room to scale—if paired with a credible plan to become competitive.

Closing assessment

African factories can compete even when China dominates parts of the supply chain and retail — but not by copying China. The countries that are winning combine smart industrial targeting, connectivity, anchor investors, enforceable local content, and the creation of ready-to-plug industrial spaces. Morocco, Egypt, Ethiopia, South Africa and Kenya each show variants of that playbook: anchor exporters, integrated parks, regional market focus, and policy scaffolding that forces linkages. Other countries can learn from these models — the key is deliberate state strategy plus private-sector follow-through, not passive market exposure.