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DUTSE JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS AND DEVELOPMENT STUDIES (DUJEDS) DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS AND DEVELOPMENT STUDIES FEDERAL UNIVERSITY DUTSE E-Mail: [email protected]

FOURTH : PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES FOR AFRICA

Ndagi, A., Ph.D Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Management and Social Sciences, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai Niger State, Nigeria.

Salihu, A. A., Ph.D Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Management and Social Sciences, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai Niger State, Nigeria.

Abstract Industrial Revolution is the process of change from an agrarian and handicraft economy to one dominated by industry and . Industrial revolution has evolved through different eras starting with first industrial revolution era from 1760 to 1840 characterized by the development of , steam engines and looms. The objectives of the paper are to further create awareness of the fourth industrial revolution are to identify prospects inherent in the fourth industrial revolution for Africa and to identify challenges of the fourth industrial revolution for Africa and Africans. The findings from the study revealed that, the major beneficiaries have been consumers able to afford and access the digital world; has made possible new products and services that increase the efficiency and pleasure of our personal lives. Ordering a cab, booking a flight, buying a product, making a payment, listening to music, watching a film, or playing a game remotely. The challenges of 4IR to Africa are enormous asthe very nature of manufacturing is changing irrevocably as such as automation (robotics), the industrial internet of things and big data analytics are enabling the fourth industrial revolution. These technologies are causing the loss of low-skilled routine jobs, of which Africa has the highest share. It is estimated that up to 66% of all jobs in developing countries are at risk. The 4IR is furthermore leading to a re-shoring of manufacturing back to advanced economies meaning that African countries may need to rethink their current approach, which is based largely on attracting foreign direct investment into manufacturing activities that require low-cost labour, such as assembly plant. Robots increasingly doing much of the work in .it is further recommended that, If Africa and particularly Nigeria is able to see the big picture by studying the weakness, threat and opportunities so created by 4IR then we could stand a chance of being one of the world Powers in the fifth industrial revolution as countries that initiated and joined the Industrial Revolution Acts early became world powers.

Keywords: Industrial Revolution, Prospects, Challenges, Africa

Introduction factors of industrial revolution but were the The industrial revolution according to Hom, et.al most dominant industry of the Industrial (2010) was the transition to new manufacturing Revolution in terms of employment, production processes in the period from about 1760 to 1840. output and capital invested. The industry This transition included going from hand was also the first to use modern production production methods to machines, new chemical methods. manufacturing and ore production. The The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain increasing use of steam power, development of and many of the technological innovations were of machine tools and system were dominant British origin. By the mid-18th century Britain was

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the world's leading commercial nationcontrolling a agrarian and handicraft economy to one dominated global trading empire with colonies in North by industry and machine manufacturing. This America, Africa and India through the activities of process began in Britain in the 18th century and the East India Company. The development of trade from there spread to other parts of the world. and the rise of business were mainly due to the Although used earlier by French writers, the Industrial Revolution. (Gupta, 2016) term Industrial Revolution was first popularized by the English economic historian Arnold Toynbee to The Industrial Revolution marks a major turning describe Britain’s economic development from point in history; almost every aspect of daily life 1760 to 1840. Since Toynbee’s time the term has was influenced in some way. In particular, average been more broadly applied.The main features income and population began to exhibit involved in the Industrial Revolution were unprecedented sustained growth. Some economists technological, socioeconomic, and cultural. The say that the major impact of the Industrial technological changes included the following: Revolution was that the standard of living for the (1) The use of new basic materials, chiefly iron general population began to increase consistently and ; for the first time in history, although others have (2) The use of new energy sources, including both said that it did not begin to meaningfully improve fuels and motive power, such as , , until the late 19th and 20th centuries ( electricity, petroleum and the internal combustion Feinstein.1998) engine (3) The of new machines, such as the The Gross Domestic Product per capital according jenny and the that permitted to Lucas (2003) was broadly stable before the increased production with a smaller expenditure of Industrial Revolution and the emergence of the human energy, modern capitalist economy while the Industrial (4) A new organization of work known as the Revolution began an era of per-capita economic factory system which entailed increased division of growth in capitalist economies. Economic labour and specialization of function, historians are in agreement that the onset of the (5) Important developments in transportation and Industrial Revolution is the most important event in communication including the steam the history of humanity since the domestication of locomotive, steamship, automobile, airplane, animals and plants. telegraph and radio and There were also many new developments in non- (6) The increasing application of science and industrial spheres, including the following: (1) technology to industry. These technological Agricultural improvements that made possible the changes made possible a tremendously increased provision of food for a larger non-agricultural use of natural resources and the mass production of population; manufactured goods. (2) Economic changes that resulted in a wider distribution of wealth, the decline of land as a The main cause of the first industrial revolution source of wealth in the face of rising industrial was richness accumulated by Britain from its large production, and increased international trade; (3) empire of colonies and losing the America colony Political changes reflecting the shift in economic in 1783 which was considered a setback. Britain power, as well as new State policies corresponding was able to maintain firm control over trade from to the needs of an industrialized society; India while British people were getting wealthier (4) Sweeping social changes, including the growth hence, they need to spend their wealth on new of cities, the development of working-class things thus, demand for all kind of goods shot-up movements, and the emergence of new patterns of considerably. authority; (5) Cultural transformations of a broad order. The first industrial revolution period according to Workers acquired new and distinctive skills, and Lucas (2003) took place approximately from 1760 their relation to their tasks shifted; instead of being to 1840 and saw to the rapid industrial development craftsmen working with hand tools as they became through machines, steam engines and weaving machine operators, subject to factory discipline. looms. The first industrial revolution was largely Finally, there was a psychological change: centered on Britain and parts of the Northeastern confidence in the ability to use resources and to United States. master nature was heightened. (Encyclopedia Britannica; www.britannica.com.) The second industrial revolution era which last between 1870 to 1914 also known as the was a phase of rapid Literature Review industrialization characterized with mass Industrial Revolution,as contained in encyclopedia production, and electric energy. The Britannica is the process of change from an second industrial revolution was a great leap

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forward for society as it fast track steel production considerable rise in the standard of living of the from iron casting, fossil energy/petroleum people; A number of substitutes and alternatives in discovery and hydro-electricity which led to the consumer goods are available and the customer get introduction of public automobile and airplanes. wide variety of choices; There are means to control The second industrial revolution laid the foundation and check the colossal wastage of human energy for globalization and created a rough draft of that can be utilized for some other uses; Industrial today`s world. (Gustavo 2016). development creates new job opportunities, leading to the removal of poverty to a great extent and has The third industrial revolution according to Rifkin also resulted in the development of new modes of (2012) emerged by 1969 and was characterized by transport making quick export and import possible. main frame computer (ICT), electronic (internet), The world has become a small place called global green electricity and 3-D printing. The third village. industrial revolution era led to fundamental economic change that occurs when new The Fourth Industrial Revolution according to communication technologies converge with new Schwab as cited by Okoro (2017). It has the energy regimes mainly renewable electricity and potential to raise global income levels and improve linking economy globally. the quality of life for populations around the world. To date, those who have gained the most from it The Fourth Industrial revolution have been consumers able to afford and access the The fourth industrial revolution according to Klaus digital world; technology has made possible new (2016) is building on the Third, the digital products and services that increase the efficiency revolution that has been occurring since the middle and pleasure of our personal lives. Ordering a cab, of the last century approximately (2005). It is booking a flight, buying a product, making a characterized by a fusion of technologies that is payment, listening to music, watching a film, or blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and playing a game—any of these can now be done biological spheres. There are three reasons why remotely. today’s transformations represent not merely a prolongation of the third industrial revolution but In the future, technological innovation will also rather the arrival of a fourth and distinct one: lead to a supply-side miracle, with long-term gains velocity, scope, and systems impact. The speed of in efficiency and productivity. Transportation and current breakthroughs has no historical precedent. communication costs will drop, logistics and global When compared with previous industrial supply chains will become more effective, and the revolutions, the fourth is evolving at an exponential cost of trade will diminish, all of which will open rather than a linear pace. It is disrupting almost new markets and drive economic growth. every industry in every country. The breadth and depth of these changes herald the transformation of Prospects of 4IR are many but in more specific entire systems of production, management, and terms: governance. The fourth industrial revolution is i. Chris (2012) predicts that the fourth mainly characterized by artificial intelligence, self- industrial revolution is likely to reduce driving cars, drones for virtual assistance, robotics, barriers between inventors and markets iCloud computing, digital fabrication, additive due to new technologies such as 3D manufacturing, materials engineering, and synthetic printing for prototyping. Chris (2012) biology pioneering a symbiosis between further predicts tissue engineers use rapid microorganisms, our bodies, products we consume prototyping techniques to produce 3D and even the buildings we inhabit (Klaus 2016). porous scaffolds. The 3D printing technique fabricates scaffolds with a novel Prospects of 4IR micro- and macro-architecture and these In general term, the prospect of industrial in turn help shape the new tissue as it development is hinged on the development of regenerates. New technologies, like this science and technology which has resulted in the 3D printing, allow entrepreneurs with new growth and spread of heavy industries. Human ideas to establish small companies with progress now-a-days is measured in terms of lower start-up costs. The entrepreneur can industrial potentialities and prosperity. bring the product to reality with 3D printing without the traditional time The prospects of the fourth industrial revolution constraints often encountered with and development are many such as; The growth of traditional prototyping methods. The industries has resulted in large scale production of typical barriers to entry are removed from goods which are available to the consumer at much the marketing equations. cheaper rates; There is saving of time and labour; ii. Increasing trends in artificial intelligence Industrial development has resulted in a point to significant economic disruptions

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in the coming years. Artificial systems connected life came about thanks to the that rationally solve complex problems advance of the Internet. In 1969, the first pose a threat to many kinds of data was transmitted over the Internet and employment, but also offers new avenues linked two main frame computers. Now, to economic growth. A report by the Internet is connecting personal McKinsey & Company found that half of computers and mobile devices. By 2010, all existing work activities would be the number of computers on the Internet automated by currently existing had surpassed the number of people on the technologies, thereby enabling companies earth. (Gershenfeld and Vasseur 2014) to save billions of dollars and to create new types of jobs. Driverless cars may Challenges of the 4IR modestly replace tax and Uber drivers, but The challenges of Industrial development are autonomous trucks may radically enormous which include; the gradual disappearance transform shipping with far fewer jobs for of many natural resources, the pollution of land, truck drivers. (Manyika et al. 2017) water and air; the increase in vehicular traffic, the iii. Innovative technologies will integrate incessant working of machines in factories have different scientific and technical brought in noise-pollution, dust and emissions; the disciplines. Key forces will come together general dirty and unhealthy conditions in and in a fusion of technologies that is blurring around the industrial sites have affected human the lines between physical, digital, and health and happiness. Diseases that are unheard of biological spheres. This fusion of before, are spreading far and wide; there has been technologies goes beyond mere instances of in factories; the gradual combination. Fusion is more than displacement of manpower in industries with robots complementary technology, because it is ultimately leading to unemployment; industrial creates new markets and new growth conflicts as a result of poor management of opportunities for each participant in the production factories lead to strike and then lockouts innovation. It blends incremental cause hardship and unrest and the society suffers improvements from several often the consequences and large scale heavy industries previously separated fields to create a lead to a sharp fall in the number of cottage product(Schwab 2015). industries and their gradual disappearance. iv. Robotics can and will change our lives in Regional and local artisans and workers of various the near future. Technically robots are trades and professions suffer a great deal.The automated motorized tools. They cook economists Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee food, play our music, record our shows, have pointed out, that the fourth industrial and even run our cars according to revolution could yield greater inequality, Schwab as contained in Okoro (2017). particularly in its potential to disrupt labor markets. Meanwhile, we just do not see it because As automation substitutes for labor across the robots do not have a face to whom we can entire economy, the net displacement of workers by talk or a butt we can kick. Consequently, machines might exacerbate the gap between returns robots have the potential to improve the to capital and returns to labor. On the other hand, it quality of our lives at home, work, and is also possible that the displacement of workers by many other places. Customized robots will technology will, in aggregate, result in a net create new jobs, improve the quality of increase in safe and rewarding jobs. We cannot existing jobs, and give people more time foresee at this point which scenario is likely to to focus on what they want to do (Okoro emerge, and history suggests that the outcome is 2017) likely to be some combination of the two. v. The Internet of things (IoT) is the However, I am convinced of one thing—that in the Internetworking of physical devices. future, talent, more than capital, will represent the Typically, the IoT is expected to offer critical factor of production. This will give rise to a advanced connectivity of devices, job market increasingly segregated into low- systems, and services that goes beyond skill/low-payand high-skill/high-pay segments, machine-to-machine (M2M) which in turn will lead to an increase in social communications and covers a variety of tensions. protocols, domains, and applications. (Holler, et al. 2014). The interconnection In addition to being a key economic concern, of these embedded devices is expected to inequality represents the greatest societal concern usher in automation in nearly all fields, associated with the Fourth Industrial Revolution. while also enabling advanced applications The largest beneficiaries of innovation tend to be like a smart grid, and expanding to areas the providers of intellectual and physical capital— such as smart cities. The revolution of the the innovators, shareholders, and investors—which

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explains the rising gap in wealth between those efficiency and productivity. Transportation and dependent on capital versus labor. Technology is communication costs will drop, logistics and global therefore one of the main reasons why incomes supply chains will become more effective, and the have stagnated, or even decreased, for a majority of cost of trade will diminish, all of which will open the population in high-income countries; the new markets and drive economic growth (Schwab demand for highly skilled workers has increased 2015). while the demand for workers with less education and lower skills has decreased. The result is a job While there are many benefits of the fourth market with a strong demand at the high and low industrial revolution, there are several key ends, but a hollowing out of the middle. This helps challenges that lie ahead. At the same time, the explain why so many workers are disillusioned and revolution could yield greater inequality, fearful that their own real incomes and those of particularly in its potential to disrupt labor markets. their children will continue to stagnate. It also helps As automation substitutes for labor across the explain why middle classes around the world are entire economy, the net displacement of workers by increasingly experiencing a pervasive sense of machines might exacerbate the gap between returns dissatisfaction and unfairness. A winner-takes-all to capital and returns to labor. The scarcest and economy that offers only limited access to the most valuable resource in an era driven by digital middle class is a recipe for democratic malaise and technologies will be neither ordinary labor nor dereliction. ordinary capital; rather it will be those people who can create new ideas and innovations. In the future, Discontent can also be fueled by the pervasiveness talent, more than capital, will represent the critical of digital technologies and the dynamics of factor of production. People with ideas, not information sharing typified by social media. More workers or investors, will be the scarcest resource. than 30 percent of the global population now uses (Brynjolfsson, McAfee, and Spence 2014). In 2017 social media platforms to connect, learn, and share Bloomberg Global Business Forum, Apple CEO information. In an ideal world, these interactions Tim Cook commented; If I were a country leader, would provide an opportunity for cross-cultural my goal would be to monopolize the world’s talent understanding and cohesion. However, they can (Leswing 2017). The quest for talent will give rise also create and propagate unrealistic expectations to a job market that may become increasingly as to what constitutes success for an individual or a segregated. Low skilled and low jobs will be group, as well as offer opportunities for extreme replaced by computers and digitization. The higher ideas and ideologies to spread. paid jobs requiring more skills are less likely to be replaced. This increased dichotomization can lead Schwab (2015).We stand on the brink of a to an increase in social tensions. (Wolf 2015) technological revolution that will fundamentally alter the way we live, work, and relate to one In addition to the threat of massive job another. In its scale, scope, and complexity, the displacement under the ongoing fourth industrial transformation will be unlike anything humankind revolution, there are a variety of challenges, such as has experienced before. We do not yet know just cybersecurity, hacking, risk assessment, and others how it will unfold, but one thing is clear: the (Lambert 2017). A higher level of alert is raised up response to it must be integrated and when our lives become extensively connected to comprehensive; involving all stakeholders of the various devices, from our cell phones, cars, and global polity, from the public and private sectors to light switches to our home security cameras, and academic and civil society.This gives us some idea smart speakers. One of the biggest trends in 2018 of the challenges surrounding the fourth industrial Consumer Electronics Show is that everything is revolution. The enormity of the challenges and the connected and there is no going back. (Goode breadth required of the response are reinforced 2018) accordingly (Peters. 2017). Having everything attached to everything else in The evolution of global industries in the fourth the IoT is going to monumentally increase the industrial revolution is both exciting and scary. Life vulnerabilities present in any given network. will change with the 3D printing, the IoT, and the Connections and burden of connectivity, systems fusion of technologies. The fourth industrial are going to have to be more secure. The fourth revolution can raise income levels by allowing industrial revolution calls for greater cybersecurity. entrepreneurs to run with their new ideas. It will Companies will need to map their networks, improve the quality of life for many people around assessing the risk and critical factors relating to the world (Jee 2017). Consumers are likely to gain security. Such an assessment should examine the most from the fourth industrial revolution. accessibility to systems, such as possible threats Technological innovation will also lead to a from internal sources, from disgruntled employees supply-side miracle, with long-term gains in to internal human error, and external sources

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including hackers and cyber terrorists. way into higher education in which it redefines the Furthermore, companies must assess risk and conventional ways universities deliver their content determine if these risks will be accepted, reduced, to students. New modes of curriculum and teaching shared via insurance or other vehicles, or rejected. arise, and the focus changes from modes of teach to Risks can be from both intentional and modes of learning. Alternative curriculums are unintentional sources. If your house lights turn on being constantly developed. Disruptive innovation via your computer, but you have lost the wireless also reshapes how businesses operate. Thinking has connection to your house, you may be living in the really moved outside of the box. New markets are dark. Unintentional sources of risk can include created and new products are defined. Netflix is errors promulgated by company employees or competing with traditional television. Taxis must nature itself such as storms causing disruptions in compete against Uber and Lyft. These offered connectivity. Individuals too should assess their similar product offered to customers in new ways. risks, just as companies will. It may come that the You could watch your shows from your home or Internet will have more information about get a ride somewhere. With the Airbnb alternative individuals than the family, friends, and colleagues overnight accommodations are competing against of the individuals. Certainly, the ability of data to traditional hotels and motels. (Jules 2017). be processed and the speed in which it can be done surpasses the ability and speed of individuals. It is Last, in an era featuring Artificial Intelligence, necessary to examine the value of processes and automation, robots, and genetic engineering, we assets, from machinery to intellectual property, have new ethical concerns emerging. Lots of ensuring that there is insurance, security measures debates have arisen in genetic engineering about and that any vulnerability is sufficiently identified. the use of tools and research technologies. On one hand, preventing genetic disease by genetic When we consider the changing nature of security engineering is desirable. On the other hand, what threats from employees connecting personal guidelines, or regulation, or ethical boundaries we devices to company networks to brute force attacks should establish in order to prevent the over from hackers the situation is further complicated. manipulation of genetics for desirable traits, Is The sophistication in risk identification and there such a thing as over manipulation, Infused neutralization has to change with it. While data can with artificial intelligence and machine learning be lost or stolen by employees, either inadvertently ability, robots have become smarter and more or intentionally, the biggest attacks in recent years autonomous, but they still lack an essential feature have been external malicious attacks, collectively such as the capacity of moral reasoning. This limits or commonly referred to as hacking. These could their ability to make good or ethical decisions in be hacking to move money around, such as when complex situations. Furthermore, the most critical Russian hackers stole $10 million from Citibank question is whose moral standards robots should customer accounts, Internet terrorism, such as the inherit. Moral values differ greatly from individual $2 million damages caused to WeaKnees.com over to individual, across countries, religions, and a six week botnet attack, Internet pump-and-dump ideological boundaries. Uncertainty over which fraud where hackers take advantage of moral framework to adopt underlies the difficulty manipulating stock prices, or software piracy which and limitations to ascribing moral values to is estimated to cost over $50 billion a year. artificial systems (Al-Rodhan 2015). (Romney and Steinbart 2017) 4IR and Africa in perspectives The fourth industrial revolution is more than just Naude (2017) asserts that approximately 170 technology-driven change. Rather, it is powered million Africans will enter the continent’s labour with disruptive innovation to positively impact our market within 20 years (between 2010 and 2020). core industries and sectors, such as education, African policymakers consider industrialization the health and business. In education, with the previous way to create employment opportunities for these industrial revolutions, the focus of education new labour market entrants. With new changed. During the first industrial revolution, technological changes and the rise of robotization, education was focused on standard modes of how can industrialization ensure inclusive learning, such as the McGuffey reader. As we growth?Where will the 170 million African labour move toward mass production in the second market entrants find jobs? Agriculture is already industrial revolution and standardized testing. characterized by surplus labour and low-income Education is service oriented and with the move growth, and on farms may further into the third industrial revolution we come to see limit job creation in future. Likewise in the mining students under a customer learning model. Now in sector, most new technologies are job-replacing. the fourth industrial revolution, technologies really Even in spite of high commodity prices, the blur the lines between physical, digital and number of jobs in mining has declined in many of biological spheres. Disruptive innovation makes its Africa's largest mineral exporters.

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In Africa most future job opportunities will be in in-a-box that makes it possible for small business service sectors, including in household enterprises. owners to quickly set up their own highly While this will be welcome in terms of shifting automated factory, dramatically reducing the costs labour out of farming and keeping unemployment and increasing the flexibility of manufacturing”. from rising, it means that African economies will These ‘new forms of manufacturing’ also include suffer from productivity-reducing structural new business models of bringing goods and change. Productivity growth is slower in the service services to the consumer such as products-as- sectors than in other sectors, because service services, the sharing (collaborative) economy, and sectors require less-skilled labour and benefiting digital services and exports. These are markets that less from technology. If depend on labour are currently underdeveloped in Africa but are productivity, then the wages of lower-skilled, likely to have substantial potential given Africa’s poorer workers will grow slower than those of geography, demography and on-going . more skilled workers. Productivity-reducing ( Brynjolfsson and Mcafee 2015) structural change will thus imply less inclusive growth in Africa. (Naude 2017) Naude (2017) acknowledge trends such as urbanization and climate change will create African policymakers have in recent years put problems and opportunities that new technologies, renewed emphasis on the promotion of together with clever entrepreneurs, can address. In industrialization this is to minimize the reduction of the process, they can also deliver growth that is productivity and provide jobs for the millions of more inclusive as Africa’s rural populations will be job seekers. Despite many efforts, according to the main beneficiaries of the use of drone Naude, Africa has so far failed to industrialize as in technology to protect crops and livestock and 2013; manufacturing contributed only 9.9 percent deliver medical supplies. Rwanda is building the on average to African countries’ GDP, less than world’s first drone port to be used in deliveries of any other region of the world. There is medical supplies and other goods in a country with even evidence of premature de-industrialization. a very rugged, mountainous terrain; Recently Current attempts to promote industrialization in Liberia piloted the first Ebola-fighting robots that Africa need to take into account the reasons for the disinfects rooms and kills the Ebola virus in a continent’s failure to industrialize.Another major hospital in Monrovia. The upshot is that the new problem according to Naude (2017) is that the very business models associated with the 4IR will have nature of manufacturing is changing irrevocably as positive spill-over effects, such as better alignment technologies such as automation (robotics), the of the needs of African consumers with producers, industrial internet of things and big data analytics greater accessibility to goods and services, better are enabling the fourth industrial revolution. These use of natural resources and less waste. technologies are causing the loss of low-skilled routine jobs, of which Africa has a disproportionate The Fourth Industrial Revolution according to share. He further said, It is estimated that up to Alozie (2017) is already upon us in Africa 66% of all jobs in developing countries are at risk. Disrupting Technologies like IoT, Data analytics, The 4IR is furthermore leading to a re-shoring of Cloud technology, Artificial Intelligence, manufacturing back to advanced economies Augmented/Virtual Reality, Blockchain, Genome, meaning that African countries may need to rethink Humanoid robots, Nano-medicine, Telecom their current approach, which is based largely on Innovations, 3D printing to mention a few, are attracting foreign direct investment into already altering the way people live their lives and manufacturing activities that require low-cost run their businesses.He further asserted that the 4th labour, such as assembly plant. Robots increasingly Industrial Revolution is completely focused around doing much of the work in factories, the question connecting the Physical, Biological and Digital. African policymakers have to ask themselves is The merging of the Digital with real life as lots of how important is low-cost labour when you don`t billions of devices, organisations and things are actually need labour? connected in digital networks.Computers are exponentially getting more powerful and will take Reducing the demand for low-skilled routine away millions of jobs. Computer chips are mostly labour, the 4IR however, does not only threaten built in 2-Dimension but in this 4IR the chips are inclusive growth and equality in Africa, but also built in 3-Dimension because of the enormous offers opportunities for new forms of power it possess. manufacturing that would trigger a period of valuable growth. These new forms of Crude Oil is no longer where the money is, Data manufacturing include more competitive small- has become the new Oil, and it could be a National, scale manufacturing through additive Organizational or personal asset which could create manufacturing, mass customization, cheaper enormous wealth while, Nations that are able to automation and cheaper input costs. Cheap robots- wield its powers 4IR can become great.Blockchain

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technology will redefine how business and years arising from the need to seamlessly connect financial transactions will be conducted. As soon as and transact business with foreign organisations the younger generation who prefer cashless already leveraging Disruptive Technologies. This transactions step into financial independent status, will usher in the Business unusual era.The fourth Blockchain powered solutions will become more Industrial revolution is here and Africa has an popular.Many things on earth will require to opportunity to boost its economy by doing the right connect to the internet hence with a unique things at the right time as relates to 4IR. Personal Identification Number (PIN password).Many corporations will start owning History shows us that Countries like Britain, USA their base stations as the price will significantly etc which initiated or joined Industrial Revolutions drop as Telecommunications became democratised. early, became world powers, so there is a strong The case could be likened the kind of need for African Countries particularly Nigeria to transformations that happened from the Big Old step forward to lead the way in the fourth Industrial computers operated by dozens of people to achieve revolution by; a very small functionscalled ENIAC to new i. Creating awareness and understanding of computers of today which can be run by almost the 4IR and Digital Economy nobody and achieve limitless functions.3D-printing ii. Update and Re-formulation of Industrial is already disrupting the supply chain, Courier and policies and regulatory framework to Freighting service industry, it is also Leverage 4IR. revolutionizing manufacturing, where iii. Capacity Building on Disruptive manufacturers are limited only by their Technologies; Industrial Internet-of- imaginations and not by the physical properties of Things, Blockchain, Artificial materials.The level of importation and exportation Intelligence, M2M, Drones, Big data is greatly reduced as most products can be 3D management etc. printed locally.Human organs can now be printed iv. Ensuring Smart Connectivity to enable using cultivated stem cells, nano-materials and IoT networks and Smart-cities. metallic constructs are going to re-invent the v. Increase technical support and funding of construction and engineering sectors, etc. Even research, innovation and development medicines will be printable, there's already a printer vi. Promotion of Local Content for that can print the basic compounds for a lot of domestication of indigenous medicines. The amount of materials used in 3D- Technologies and innovations printing is expanding rapidly.We can use micro- organisms to produce all kinds of materials from All Industrial revolution eras leads to economic plastics to oil. Using hazardous substances, like the advancement and also creates new weakness and gas methane for instance, as an input, to get a threat which also present new opportunities. Africa useful product out of it is also within reach.People and indeed Nigeria need to take pro-active steps in can now print food using nutritiously edible the 4IR to prepare, reposition and leads other supplements. (Alozie 2017) Africa countries and Nigeria in to the Fifth Industrial Revolution.If Africa and particularly The Way Forward Nigeria is able to see the bigpicture by studying the Sequel to 4IR, companies will reduce staff strength weakness, threatand opportunities so created by as artificial intelligence are already becoming 4IR then we could stand a chance of being one of receptionists handling services like picking up the world Powers in the fifth industrial revolution calls, scheduling physical meetings and carrying as countries that initiated and joined the Industrial out few business operations that can be abstracted Revolution Acts early became world powers. on a computer.As more institutions and organisations become connected, the speed of the worlds operations could be synonymous to the Conclusion and Recommendations speed of Galactic miles per hour. These to a large We stand on the brink of a technological revolution extend will affect African countries negatively in that will fundamentally alter the way we live, work, view of our dependence on numerical labour force and relate to one another. In its scale, scope, and and weak advancement in science, technology and complexity, the transformation will be unlike innovation. In spite our enormous resources and anything humankind has experienced before. We possibilities in Africa we have to get involve do not yet know just how it will unfold, but one significantly or else Africa will be relegated to the thing is clear: the response to it must be integrated background with wasted efforts of trying to re- and comprehensive, involving all stakeholders of inventing the wheel. the global polity, from the public and private sectors to academia and civil society.There are It is projected according to Alozie (2017) that 4IR three reasons why today’s transformations will significantly impact Africa within the next few represent not merely a prolongation of the Third

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Industrial Revolution but rather the arrival of a software used to discover new drugs to algorithms Fourth and distinct one: velocity, scope, and used to predict our cultural interests. Digital systems impact. The speed of current fabrication technologies, meanwhile, are interacting breakthroughs has no historical precedent. When with the biological world on a daily basis. compared with previous industrial revolutions, the Engineers, designers, and architects are combining Fourth is evolving at an exponential rather than a computational design, additive manufacturing, linear pace. Moreover, it is disrupting almost every materials engineering, and synthetic biology to industry in every country. And the breadth and pioneer a symbiosis between microorganisms, our depth of these changes herald the transformation of bodies, the products we consume, and even the entire systems of production, management, and buildings we inhabit. governance. Achieving inclusive growth in Africa is to pursue The possibilities of billions of people connected by industrialization strategies that can harness the mobile devices, with unprecedented processing opportunities and minimize the threats of the 4IR. power, storage capacity, and access to knowledge, Such strategies need to have entrepreneurship and are unlimited. And these possibilities will be education at their core, focusing strongly on multiplied by emerging technology breakthroughs science, technology, engineering, innovation and in fields such as artificial intelligence, robotics, the advance process scientific management these are Internet of Things, autonomous vehicles, 3-D skills predicted to be increasingly in demand in the printing, nanotechnology, biotechnology, materials 4IR. The hoped-for increased investment by science, energy storage, and quantum individuals and governments in education and in computing.Already, artificial intelligence is all new businesses is risky, particularly so in Africa around us, from self-driving cars and drones to with its vulnerability to conflict, natural disasters virtual assistants and software that translate or and often difficult business environment. invest. Impressive progress has been made in Therefore, the expansion of social security, which artificial intelligence in recent years, driven by is still under-provided in Africa, should be the exponential increases in computing power and by bedrock of policies aiming at inclusive growth the availability of vast amounts of data, from through industrialization.

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