The Covid-19 pandemic is forcing countries to look inward economically because of the logistical curbs that the coronavirus imposes on them. Simultaneously, Covid-19 is strengthening the hand of major global investment companies to withdraw from investments that fail to uphold environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles.
Also, Covid-19 is being seen increasingly by risk managers as a climate-change dress rehearsal. Advancing concurrently with all this is new technology that facilitates competitiveness, even if high-volume is not demanded. These thrusts together emphasise the opportunities that are rapidly rendering in-country self-sufficiency an economically viable proposition.
But it is absolutely essential that, on all fronts, the localisation that is embarked upon is clean and green. It must uphold ESG principles and take advantage of technologies that render low-volume production competitive. Re-industrialisation, local mining of the required metals, local manufacture, local services and in-country emphasis are beckoning, as flight and freight deflate and those who pollute Mother Earth are condemned to the lowest rungs of hell.