The India Toy Story - Maybe a lesson book for an African toy story.

Toy Story is an acclaimed 1995 film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and directed by John Lasseter, that came slightly short of first place the same year it was launched, grossing over $373 million worldwide. The classic, the first animated film made entirely of CGI, has won many accolades including earning Lasseter a Special Academy Award.

A favorite with many and probably among the most successful films, Toy Story made the cut for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.

How so?

A witty screenplay, a great musical score, incredible vocal performances, and an innovative 3D animation approach could be a magnate for accolades. Don't you agree?

What about the Indian toy story? Thank you for asking.

Well, India too has an incredible toy story.

India's toy story is built on the back of probably the largest National raft of measures ever implemented to rescue an economy on the brink of collapse. Yet on its own, it stands as a story worthy of recognition. Unlike the movie, a fictitious story of human imagination, this is reality - a true story.

The Set:

2020: India imports the majority of its toys making the Indian toy industry heavily dependent on foreign manufacturers. China is dominating India's own toy space with an influx of substandard, cheap, unsafe, and super brittle products. The Prime Minister is not happy.

Several challenges have contributed to the situation:

• This is how it has been. Historically, India has been importing a large percentage of toys to supply the demand in the market.
• There is a lack of raw materials within India's borders.
• The toy technology in India is still nascent.
• There is generally a shortfall in design capability

The Drama:

The Indian government launched the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme to cut across 14 important manufacturing sectors. The toy sector got a US$13 million allocation to incentivize domestic production as a bold move to build local manufacturing capacity. Strengthening domestic manufacturing would also build robust and resilient supply chains, strengthen India's competitiveness in the market, and increase export margins.

In the spirit of INSPIRE, EMPOWER, and ENABLE, the government launched Toycation. To encourage creativity and arouse innovation and entrepreneurship, the Toycation Challenge accepted submissions to toy designs to feed into the local toy manufacturing sector. Up to 17000 entries were recorded.

Other measures taken to support local production and allow India-made toys to compete on a global scale include;

• Custom duty increased from 20% to 60% for locally-made goods to thrive.
• Implementation of mandatory sample testing of toy imports to ensure good quality.
• Implementation of quality control to generate and maintain credibility and trust.
• Issuing of licenses to Indian toy manufacturers to operate and produce.

The Results:

India's toy industry underwent an incredible transformation in two years despite the disruption and challenges that came with COVID-19. The following were the outcomes;

• There was a huge decline in toy imports by up to 70% from imports worth US$ 371 M to US$ 110 M.
• There was a marked improvement in the quality of toys circulating in the Indian market
• India's toy export margins shot up 61% from US$ 202 million in 2018-2019 to US$ 326 million in 2021 - 2022. April - August of 2022 registered a notorious 636% growth in toy exports compared to 2013.

Although India's toy market now worth US$ 1.5 Billion is yet to catch up to China's US$ 40 Billion, it is no longer nascent.

Having built on its comparative advantages including a large domestic market, the country has made large strides. With a growing local demand, a young and vibrant population, consistent government efforts to strengthen manufacturing capacity, and Foreign Direct Investment inflow closing in on the US$ 100 Billion mark, India is poised to take the toy market by storm.

How does this relate to the African HealthTech market?

India has a population of 1.4 Billion by current estimates, with Africa slightly above, just close to 1.5 Billion.

But Africa is not one country. I know.

Point to note: Africa imports about 90% of its medtech.

Could this be the motivation to start us out on the African toy story?

Share your thoughts.

What lessons can we pick from India for our own African toy story?

African HealthTech

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