hoses, exhaust systems, and auto filters. 25% of firms exported their products to foreign markets, almost exclusively to other West African countries. Skill Acquisition/Innovation The transition from trading and marketing imported auto spares to producing them locally was made possible by the extensive experience that Nnewi entrepreneurs had acquired through close familial networks, the transfer of industry skills and knowledge generationally, and the longstanding relationships traders had fostered with their Taiwanese suppliers. Most of the early-entrant entrepreneurs had a very basic level of education and were semi-literate. They gained skills through an informal apprentice system rooted within extended family networks. By 2005, the average education levels of the entrepreneurs had improved markedly - 41% had a high school education, 29% had a technical school education, and 16% had a university degree. However, transfers of knowledge and skills through informal apprenticeships were still a critical source of training and continued to facilitate the accumulation of critical skills within family lineages. The system of knowledge and technological transfers from Taiwanese firms to Nnewe firms was maintained as Nnewe firms continued to upgrade their manufacturing processes. In 2006, 80% of the firms sourced more than 60% of their machinery from foreign suppliers. When firms chose to upgrade their technology, the main motivations were improving old processes, expanding the variety of products, and enlarging production capacity. 60% of firms interviewed chose to invest in process upgrading in order to achieve greater efficiency. While there is little evidence of major innovations in design or productive capacity - Nnewi firms were basically copying tried and true production processes developed in Asia - there is evidence of technological modifications. The modification and improvement of old technology in order to adapt to a Nigerian industrial setting illustrates a capacity for growth and dynamism within the cluster.
hoses, exhaust systems, and auto filters. 25% of firms exported their products to foreign markets, almost exclusively to other West African countries. Skill Acquisition/Innovation The transition from trading and marketing imported auto spares to producing them locally was made possible by the extensive experience that Nnewi entrepreneurs had acquired through close familial networks, the transfer of industry skills and knowledge generationally, and the longstanding relationships traders had fostered with their Taiwanese suppliers. Most of the early-entrant entrepreneurs had a very basic level of education and were semi-literate. They gained skills through an informal apprentice system rooted within extended family networks. By 2005, the average education levels of the entrepreneurs had improved markedly - 41% had a high school education, 29% had a technical school education, and 16% had a university degree. However, transfers of knowledge and skills through informal apprenticeships were still a critical source of training and continued to facilitate the accumulation of critical skills within family lineages. The system of knowledge and technological transfers from Taiwanese firms to Nnewe firms was maintained as Nnewe firms continued to upgrade their manufacturing processes. In 2006, 80% of the firms sourced more than 60% of their machinery from foreign suppliers. When firms chose to upgrade their technology, the main motivations were improving old processes, expanding the variety of products, and enlarging production capacity. 60% of firms interviewed chose to invest in process upgrading in order to achieve greater efficiency. While there is little evidence of major innovations in design or productive capacity - Nnewi firms were basically copying tried and true production processes developed in Asia - there is evidence of technological modifications. The modification and improvement of old technology in order to adapt to a Nigerian industrial setting illustrates a capacity for growth and dynamism within the cluster.