Mauritius Hosts Africa Kaizen Conference to Boost Continental Productivity

The Africa Kaizen Annual Conference (AKAC) 2026 was held in Mauritius on October 26-27, bringing together policymakers, experts, and corporate representatives from Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The conference, themed "Sustainable Kaizen for a Competitive and Prosperous Africa," was jointly organised by the Mauritian government, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD (AUDA-NEPAD), and the Pan-African Productivity Association (PAPA). This was the first time Mauritius has hosted the event.

The conference marked the 10th anniversary of the Africa Kaizen Initiative (AKI), launched in 2016 through a partnership between JICA and AUDA-NEPAD. Over the past decade, the initiative has strengthened national productivity organisations across Africa and trained thousands of practitioners in continuous improvement methodologies. Mauritius has been a Centre of Excellence under the AKI since its adoption of the Japanese Kaizen philosophy in 2001.

High-profile dignitaries attended the official opening ceremony, including Kan Masahiro, Ambassador of Japan to Mauritius, and Amine Idriss Adoum, Director of Economy, Infrastructure, Trade, and Industrialisation at AUDA-NEPAD. NPCC Chairman Arshad Duymun urged African nations to adopt Kaizen "not merely as a management tool, but as a continental mindset for transformation." He emphasised that Africa's future will be shaped by the quality of what its people produce and the efficiency with which they do so.

NPCC Executive Director Dr Vinaye Ancharaz presented an assessment of productivity across Africa, highlighting critical post-pandemic challenges such as a slowdown in labor productivity growth and a drop in capital productivity. He called for urgent policy intervention to foster a "sustainable Kaizen" approach that makes businesses agile, green, and smart while keeping workers central to productivity gains.

The conference featured five panel sessions covering topics such as sustainable Kaizen, cultivating continuous improvement, and aligning Kaizen with digital transformation and innovation. Veemal Gungadin, CEO of Mauritius Telecom, presented on "Human-Led, AI-Powered: Reimagining Kaizen for the AI Age," highlighting how artificial intelligence can complement human-led processes to optimize operations.

International delegates participated in field visits to three prominent Mauritian enterprises, showcasing practical applications of Kaizen. The event concluded with the fourth edition of the Capacity Enhancement Programme (CEP IV), which equipped nearly 100 productivity practitioners with practical tools to champion continuous improvement within their organisations.

By hosting AKAC 2026, Mauritius reinforced its commitment to regional cooperation and positioned itself to play a more active role in shaping the continent's future productivity strategies. The conference set the stage for the next phase of the Africa Kaizen Initiative, with upcoming stakeholder consultations to shape the post-2027 framework.

Key points

• Mauritius has been recognised as one of four designated Centres of Excellence under the Africa Kaizen Initiative (AKI), alongside Ethiopia, South Africa, and Tunisia.