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REVIEW article

Front. Manuf. Technol.
Sec. Sustainable Life Cycle Engineering and Manufacturing
Volume 4 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmtec.2024.1410653
This article is part of the Research Topic Impacts of African Industrialization on Manufacturing Technology View all articles

Toward Sustainable Industrialization in Africa: The Potential of Additive Manufacturing -an overview

Provisionally accepted
Desmond Klenam Desmond Klenam 1*Tabiri Kwayie Asumadu Tabiri Kwayie Asumadu 2Michael Oluwatosin Bodunrin Michael Oluwatosin Bodunrin 3Japheth Obiko Japheth Obiko 4Rodney Michael Genga Rodney Michael Genga 3Sechaba Maape Sechaba Maape 3Fred McBagonluri Fred McBagonluri 5Wole Soboyejo Wole Soboyejo 2
  • 1 School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
  • 2 SUNY Polytechnic Institute, Utica, New York, United States
  • 3 University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
  • 4 Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Nairobi, Kenya
  • 5 Academic City University College, Accra, Ghana

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The integration of sustainable additive manufacturing (AM) within the framework of African industrialization presents a promising avenue for economic advancement while addressing environmental concerns. This review explores the convergence of sustainable AM practices with the industrial landscape of Africa, highlighting potential benefits and challenges. Through efficient resource utilization and localized production capabilities, AM holds promise for enhancing industrial resilience, stimulating employment opportunities, and fostering innovation. However, the realization of these benefits necessitates navigating infrastructural limitations, technological disparities, and regulatory complexities. By critically examining sustainable AM strategies and their relevance to African contexts, this review aims to delineate actionable pathways for leveraging the transformative potential of AM. The role of AM in industrialization as expressed in the African Union Agenda 2063 are highlighted. This has the potential to increase the staggering ~11% contribution of manufacturing to gross domestic product of Africa. Collaboration through the triple helix approach focusing on government, industry and academia is highly pivotal for the success of such nascent and ubiquitous AM technology which is able to address the sustainable development goals. Africa can leapfrog and harness sustainable AM as a catalyst for inclusive industrial development and sustainable growth across the continent. The implications of AM for an industrialised Africa and areas for future research direction are briefly discussed.

    Keywords: Additive manufacturing, sustainability, African industrialization, Sustainable development goals, Economic Development

    Received: 01 Apr 2024; Accepted: 11 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Klenam, Asumadu, Bodunrin, Obiko, Genga, Maape, McBagonluri and Soboyejo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Desmond Klenam, School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.