Absolutely excellent! We have much to learn from the broadest possible comparative histories of Development (not ‘Growth’). If I may add a point on ‘process knowledge’ and ‘learning by doing: Sometimes these are portrayed as enhanced dexterity derived from repeated practical hands-on experience in the production process--best captured in the phrase ‘muscle memory.’ These concepts go back to the 1950s and the work of Michael Polanyi on what he called ‘tacit knowledge.’ He took the concept in a psychological/philosophical direction whereas the Japanese applied it in the famous Toyota Production System. They proved that process knowledge differs from tacit knowledge/muscle memory and is in fact a highly analyticalprocess of learning. It requires abstracting the principles behind previously ‘blind’ processes and then using these principles to improve the processes of production. It's far from being merely a matter of ‘learning by doing.’ The everyday work process itself becomes a research laboratory and as a result is continuously improved in real time. Thus the Japanese found a way to make ‘tacit’ knowledge explicit--to move it from ‘muscle’ to ‘mind’--and to consciously incorporate this into frequent technological upgradings of the production process--aka ‘kaizen.’ This is the key to the Japanese/South Korean and now Chinese production system. For this to work you need a well-educated work force with a solid foundation in advanced high school mathematics/physics in which the East Asian school systems famously outperform the entire world. It turns out that for ‘learning by doing’ to work, dexterity alone won't get you there. Not only engineers but also workers need calculus!
Absolutely. And I'm reminded of something I read not long ago in the FT to mark 50 years of Apple:
"Yet the sheer scale of Apple’s success forced it to change tack. Relying on single suppliers was madness once iPod volumes reached the tens of millions. To get around “the lowest common denominator” problem Apple would identify the best supplier for a component, then actively teach its rivals the secrets of their manufacturing process until no differences between them remained. Suppliers at the time compared the tactic to “corporate espionage”.
The iPod Classic became a case study. It had a beautiful stainless steel back, 0.4 millimetres thin, and reflective like a mirror thanks to precision hand polishing. Apple had worked with a master craftsman in Japan to develop the process and, within a few years, more than 20 companies were working in co-operation on 15,000 to 20,000 iPod casings per day.
Once the iPod ballooned in popularity, these artisans couldn’t keep up. That’s when the film crews showed up. Apple recorded every step of the process — the angle of the craftsman’s wrist, the pressure and speed and sound of the polishing, and how to manage the heat distortion without warping the metal. Then Apple broke down each step into mathematical code and automated it all, at gargantuan scale, in China."
It's interesting that, despite borrowing many things German in its Meiji modernization period, the Japanese high school system is very different: they are famous for introducing advanced math and physics concepts very early even from primary school and they never adopted the grammar/vocational divide typical of European systems with the old British one being the extreme. Their approach has been to develop this extremely demanding high school system in which students cover both Humanities and Math/Physics/Biology/Chemistry to what in the UK would be like taking 10-14 subjects at A level! In the US vase it would be equivalent to the first year of College (or even higher!). More like the French baccalaureate. They do have vocational schools but for them vocational education belongs more on the factory floor and thus is very firm-specific. The advantages are obvious. At the same time because the general foundation is so strong, retraining is a realistic option. This system is one of the most equal in the world, far more than the highly stratified Chinese equivalents. Japanese excellence in engineering today is inseparable from this rigorous system. For Nigeria and Africa to develop, revamping of the education system is crucial.
Markets open in about an hour. Rushing to up my neé Lafarge stake. Not that this is financial advice, but that, at least, was my takeaway. Gonna leave the clinker stuff to operators😅
This excerpt highlights a fatal flaw among Nigerian companies (not to name any 😂): treating advanced technology as a plug-and-play procurement exercise rather than an opportunity for learning. By relying entirely on foreign vendors to maintain and run imported machinery, they deepen a cycle of dependency.
As Zhang Zhidong recognized in 1893, foreign machines without trained people only deepen this reliance. He never mistook industrialization as just a procurement exercise; instead, alongside factories, he built a dense web of schools across Hubei covering languages, mathematics, mining, military science, agriculture, industrial crafts, and teacher training. His Ziqiang Institute taught science, commerce, and key global languages, while his Hubei Industrial School saw students move between the classroom and the workshop floor to master steam engines, lathes, drawing, casting, and metalwork.
True industrialization requires this exact dual approach: pairing hardware acquisition with aggressive, localized technical education and R&D. Until Nigerian conglomerates shift from hoarding capital to incubating local mastery, the country will continue to host cutting-edge technology without ever owning it.
What you left unsaid or said only in innuendo is that Dangote unlike Huaxin has been making cement with no understanding of the technology and Nigeria did not build the capacity and Dangote has also not built the capacity to assimilate and own the cement making technology as Huaxin and the Chinese have done. A valid point that also exist in our road building, our railways, our telecommunications even in our ICT. And no wonder we keep burning and we keep hearing about the growing cost of building out our infrastructure. Neither Minister Umahi nor any of the Ministers and Governors answering Mr Projects have thought like that Mandating that started the cement technology revolution in China. Even during the cement armada years, it never occurred to us to actually acquire, assimilate and own the technology.
Do you really think the incentive is there for them to drift from the local behaviour considering there's pressure on China margins? I am not confident, but would be glad to be disappointed.
Absolutely excellent! We have much to learn from the broadest possible comparative histories of Development (not ‘Growth’). If I may add a point on ‘process knowledge’ and ‘learning by doing: Sometimes these are portrayed as enhanced dexterity derived from repeated practical hands-on experience in the production process--best captured in the phrase ‘muscle memory.’ These concepts go back to the 1950s and the work of Michael Polanyi on what he called ‘tacit knowledge.’ He took the concept in a psychological/philosophical direction whereas the Japanese applied it in the famous Toyota Production System. They proved that process knowledge differs from tacit knowledge/muscle memory and is in fact a highly analyticalprocess of learning. It requires abstracting the principles behind previously ‘blind’ processes and then using these principles to improve the processes of production. It's far from being merely a matter of ‘learning by doing.’ The everyday work process itself becomes a research laboratory and as a result is continuously improved in real time. Thus the Japanese found a way to make ‘tacit’ knowledge explicit--to move it from ‘muscle’ to ‘mind’--and to consciously incorporate this into frequent technological upgradings of the production process--aka ‘kaizen.’ This is the key to the Japanese/South Korean and now Chinese production system. For this to work you need a well-educated work force with a solid foundation in advanced high school mathematics/physics in which the East Asian school systems famously outperform the entire world. It turns out that for ‘learning by doing’ to work, dexterity alone won't get you there. Not only engineers but also workers need calculus!
Absolutely. And I'm reminded of something I read not long ago in the FT to mark 50 years of Apple:
"Yet the sheer scale of Apple’s success forced it to change tack. Relying on single suppliers was madness once iPod volumes reached the tens of millions. To get around “the lowest common denominator” problem Apple would identify the best supplier for a component, then actively teach its rivals the secrets of their manufacturing process until no differences between them remained. Suppliers at the time compared the tactic to “corporate espionage”.
The iPod Classic became a case study. It had a beautiful stainless steel back, 0.4 millimetres thin, and reflective like a mirror thanks to precision hand polishing. Apple had worked with a master craftsman in Japan to develop the process and, within a few years, more than 20 companies were working in co-operation on 15,000 to 20,000 iPod casings per day.
Once the iPod ballooned in popularity, these artisans couldn’t keep up. That’s when the film crews showed up. Apple recorded every step of the process — the angle of the craftsman’s wrist, the pressure and speed and sound of the polishing, and how to manage the heat distortion without warping the metal. Then Apple broke down each step into mathematical code and automated it all, at gargantuan scale, in China."
It's interesting that, despite borrowing many things German in its Meiji modernization period, the Japanese high school system is very different: they are famous for introducing advanced math and physics concepts very early even from primary school and they never adopted the grammar/vocational divide typical of European systems with the old British one being the extreme. Their approach has been to develop this extremely demanding high school system in which students cover both Humanities and Math/Physics/Biology/Chemistry to what in the UK would be like taking 10-14 subjects at A level! In the US vase it would be equivalent to the first year of College (or even higher!). More like the French baccalaureate. They do have vocational schools but for them vocational education belongs more on the factory floor and thus is very firm-specific. The advantages are obvious. At the same time because the general foundation is so strong, retraining is a realistic option. This system is one of the most equal in the world, far more than the highly stratified Chinese equivalents. Japanese excellence in engineering today is inseparable from this rigorous system. For Nigeria and Africa to develop, revamping of the education system is crucial.
Love reading and learning from you Feyi
Thank you!
Markets open in about an hour. Rushing to up my neé Lafarge stake. Not that this is financial advice, but that, at least, was my takeaway. Gonna leave the clinker stuff to operators😅
😂😂😂
This excerpt highlights a fatal flaw among Nigerian companies (not to name any 😂): treating advanced technology as a plug-and-play procurement exercise rather than an opportunity for learning. By relying entirely on foreign vendors to maintain and run imported machinery, they deepen a cycle of dependency.
As Zhang Zhidong recognized in 1893, foreign machines without trained people only deepen this reliance. He never mistook industrialization as just a procurement exercise; instead, alongside factories, he built a dense web of schools across Hubei covering languages, mathematics, mining, military science, agriculture, industrial crafts, and teacher training. His Ziqiang Institute taught science, commerce, and key global languages, while his Hubei Industrial School saw students move between the classroom and the workshop floor to master steam engines, lathes, drawing, casting, and metalwork.
True industrialization requires this exact dual approach: pairing hardware acquisition with aggressive, localized technical education and R&D. Until Nigerian conglomerates shift from hoarding capital to incubating local mastery, the country will continue to host cutting-edge technology without ever owning it.
What you left unsaid or said only in innuendo is that Dangote unlike Huaxin has been making cement with no understanding of the technology and Nigeria did not build the capacity and Dangote has also not built the capacity to assimilate and own the cement making technology as Huaxin and the Chinese have done. A valid point that also exist in our road building, our railways, our telecommunications even in our ICT. And no wonder we keep burning and we keep hearing about the growing cost of building out our infrastructure. Neither Minister Umahi nor any of the Ministers and Governors answering Mr Projects have thought like that Mandating that started the cement technology revolution in China. Even during the cement armada years, it never occurred to us to actually acquire, assimilate and own the technology.
Do you really think the incentive is there for them to drift from the local behaviour considering there's pressure on China margins? I am not confident, but would be glad to be disappointed.