An Oversight
It just occurred to me that all these years spent writing extensively about industrialisation, digitisation, and their place as indispensable tools for the sustained development of our country and continent… And astute readers of this column can testify to this fact… In fact, it is safe to say that about 50 percent of the ‘Attempted Prophecies’ portfolio has been dedicated to dissecting these two developmental imperatives: industrialisation and information technology…
Over the many years, we have traced the history of industrialisation—the Industrial Revolution having its start in the 18thcentury—and the Digital Revolution beginning in the mid-20th century. We have examined sectors such as the textile industry and the pioneering contribution and effect it had on this global phenomenon called industrialisation. We have interrogated our country’s failure at building for itself a bourgeoning textile industry, one built as much on Africanism as it is on industrialisation and national advancement. We have analysed our country and continent’s participation—more precisely, underperformance—in these two highly mutable phenomena: industrialisation and digitisation. In this column, we have not only been deconstructive in our approach of interrogating these concepts, we have, more importantly, been reconstructive—offering certain enabling antidotes and solutions, notably, university/industry collaborations, public/public partnerships, and the likes of them.
But it just occurred to me that throughout all these years of extensive coverage and interrogation, I have never for once mentioned the backbone behind it all… the anchor, the source of it all: engineering. The engineer.
Very surprising—this oversight. And it is one I intend to fix right here, right now. So, I had a very insightful conversation with Ing. Isaac Bedu—more on that shortly.
The science of creating
These things tend to be inevitable—or at least, they tend to present themselves as such.
It is only natural that humans, in so performing this act of living, would be faced with challenges demanding resolution... Challenges whose resolutions often lead to the making of the act of living better. Each challenge faced is a step closer to the betterment of the human existence and experience. It is a virtuous cycle, really—vicious in certain regards. But in today’s article, we are going to focus on the virtuous: the almost Godly act of creating—the millennia upon millennia of humankind finding solutions to problems coming in all shapes and forms. If problems be inevitable, so must solutions. All too inevitable, it seems: this field that is engineering.
It is quite unfortunate—and pretty on brand—that much of humankind’s first crack at engineering was for military purposes. As far back as 10th century BC, the Assyrians were deploying engineering in their signature siege warfare. It is not surprising because modern history and the exponential advancements in industrialisation witnessed in the 20th century were also fuelled by war, with military engineering enabling these innovations—and we have discussed this also extensively in this column.
But I like to think that the case was, and has been, different for the continent of Africa. And it really was so: different. For earliest records of our history point to a much more civil application of engineering. In fact, many experts point to our continent as being the mother of engineering—of human technological advancement, for the world’s oldest surviving stone tools were found in Africa—in Eastern Africa; tools which are believed to have been crafted over 3.3 million years ago.
The rest of the world did eventually catch up to us in this civil application of engineering. During the 18th century, modern civil engineering emerged strongly. The building of modern road networks and buildings, highways, bridges, sanitation systems, dams, water systems, etc., all have civil engineering—the second-oldest form of engineering—to thank.
During that same century, another field of engineering was to emerge—mechanical engineering. To say our world today is shaped by the Industrial Revolution is, I dare say, almost an underestimation. Every aspect of our modern lives is awash with the fruits of industrialisation. But it all—as we have discussed this before in this column—started rather quite quaintly, with textiles. By 1733, John Kay had invented the ‘flying shuttle’, a device that sped up the otherwise manual, hand-intensive weaving process. Thirty-one years later, James Hargreaves was to build on this invention, inventing a multi-spindle spinning frame, a device that even further reduced the amount of manual labour needed in the weaving process. By 1712, the atmospheric steam engine had been invented by Thomas Newcomen. Fast-forward to the year 1769, and James Watt improves on Newcomen’s steam engine, giving power to the mechanisation, one having spillover effects in cotton mills, mines, steamboats, factories, the railway system, and the likes of them. This, ladies and gentlemen, marked the beginning of civil engineering.
The 19th century saw the emergence of yet another branch of engineering: electrical engineering. Power systems (the generation of electricity), electronics (the designing of computer, phone hardware, etc.), telecommunication systems, and the likes, are all powered by this branch of engineering. During this same century emerged yet another field: chemical engineering, a branch which involves everything from the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals, consumer goods, foods, energy, etc.
This whole journey—these centuries-old strides towards improving the lives of humankind worldwide—have, as noted, been pioneered by generations upon generations of engineers.
The Case of Ghana: The Engineering Council
So, when one sees a sign that says: Engineering Council, it understandably ought to give one cause to reflect. This is highly consequential work they do—a highly consequential duty placed on their heads, is it not?
The Council describes itself as the “regulatory body for engineering in Ghana”, one responsible for upholding “the highest standards of practice under the Engineering Council Act, 2011 (Act 819) and L.I. 2410.” And indeed, the Act, in so establishing the Council, expressly indicates the latter’s object as securing “the highest professional standards in the practice of engineering.” And this is quite reminiscent of other engineering councils around the world. For instance, the Engineering Council of the UK, which indicates its mission as setting, upholding and advancing “internationally recognised standards of competence and commitment for the engineering profession.”
And to attain its object, the Ghanaian Engineering Council is mandated under section 3 of Act 819 to, among others, regulate the engineering profession by setting and enforcing registration, professional, ethical, and practice standards; define the scope of engineering practice; maintain and publish practitioner registers; collaborate with relevant institutions on accreditation and certification of engineering professionals; exercise disciplinary powers over practitioners; license relevant professional bodies; and advise the Minister on engineering matters. The Council is headed by a Registrar; and Ing. Isaac Bedu is its present Registrar.
In Ghana, the engineering practitioner title is a protected one—unequivocally so, for section 13(1) of Act 819 states quite explicitly, “A person shall not offer engineering services or practice engineering unless that person is registered in accordance with this Act.” Section 35 goes on to stipulate that unregistered persons are prohibited from using the title ‘registered engineering practitioner’ or any other title or designation that the Council reserves or may prescribe for particular groups of engineering practitioners.
In fact, it is an offence to use the title without registration, for section 44(1)(b) states categorically that a person who “wilfully and falsely uses a name, title or addition implying a qualification to practise as an engineering practitioner under this Act… commits an offence…”
The Act classifies the engineering profession into four categories: professional engineer, engineering technologist, engineering technician, and engineering craftsman. Each of them, under section 9 of the accompanying legislative instrument, L.I. 2410, has the broad categories of their powers and limitations stipulated. Neither the Act nor the L.I. indicate the educational qualification prerequisite to qualify under each of the four categories. However, the Council, in its guide—made readily available on its website—defines what those qualifications are. The Council goes on to indicate the number of years of experience a person should have practised before they can qualify for registration as an engineering practitioner—and it is three years for all four categories.
Education and experience are not the only criteria a person ought to satisfy before qualifying for registration. There are four criteria in all, in fact—what the Council terms its ‘Four Es’. Aside from education and experience, there are also the ‘examination’ and ‘ethics’ criteria. One ought to have taken and passed a professional examination and panel assessment/review and satisfied the code of ethics of the profession—requirements which have their foundation both in the Council’s Act and L.I.
The Act, in section 3(g), provides for the establishment and licensing of licensed bodies to undertake these registrations and licensing of engineering professionals. That is to say that unlike other sectors and councils, the Engineering Council does not itself directly undertake the administration and certification of “individuals and corporate bodies for initial and continuing registration” as engineering practitioners. At the moment there are two of such licensed bodies: the Ghana Institution of Engineering (GhIE) and the Institution of Engineering and Technology, Ghana (IET-Gh).
The UK: A Case Study
One thing that is profoundly striking about the UK’s Engineering Council is the reason behind its founding. It is the mid-1970s and the engineering profession continues to face perception challenges in the United Kingdom. Unlike much of the rest of the world— particularly competitor nations such as West Germany, and even within its own national borders: when it came to other professions such as medicine, law, and accounting—the engineering profession was incredibly poorly regarded in the UK.
There was this endemic, systemic cultural, educational, industrial, and governmental undervaluation of the profession in the country. British people of the time did not view engineering as an elite, respectable profession. You say the word ‘engineer’, and all the British person could conjure was images of a mechanic, a fitter… Yes, that same image of the Ghanaian fitter you are picturing right now, that was all the British person thought engineering was about. This is because the field was infamously unregulated. Just about everyone could call themselves an engineer. And this low standing in the minds of British society—this highly classist society— meant that engineers were woefully underpaid, underappreciated, and disregarded. Low incentives meant the profession remained unattractive to the nation’s brightest minds, and that meant fewer and fewer young people, brilliant people found the profession attractive, which ultimately led to the profession lacking highly skilled professionals. It was a vicious cycle—this pre-1980 British situation.
And, I must say, this is incredibly shocking. Because it is Britain we are talking about here—Britain, the country that birthed the Industrial Revolution; where industrialisation as we know it found its start (and on this fact, even I do not have a pan-Africanist retort). And industrialisation, it was pioneered and driven by this orchestrator: the engineer. So how could British society dare to commit this flaw?
Needless to say, it is a fault the country paid dearly for.
By the late 1970s, the Labour government had rightly diagnosed this problem: there was a ‘decline in UK manufacturing’ and consequently, the economy; and there was an urgent need to find a ‘cure for these ills.’ And it did not take a rocket scientist to determine the root cause of this problem as the undervaluation of the orchestrator of industrialisation and manufacturing: the engineer. So, in 1977, the Callaghan government set up a commission of inquiry to investigate, among others, the cause of this weakening of the engineering profession, the fragmentation existing among professional engineering institutions of the time, the low status of engineers, the weak nexus existing between engineering education, training, and professional recognition, the inconsistent formation and standards prevailing in the industry, and to determine whether there was a need to introduce a statutory regulatory body to regulate the industry.
In 1980, the committee presented its report: the Engineering Our Future report, informally called the Finniston Report. But before the report came out, the government that commissioned it was out—Callaghan out; Thatcher in. Needless to say, the fullest extent of its recommendations was not implemented... Notably, the recommendation that the profession receive statutory regulation instead of self-regulation, and that the engineering profession be a protected title—that is to say that before one could call themselves an engineering practitioner, they ought to be certified and registered by a licensed body.
Indeed, the UK fought for the opportunity to have a statutorily regulated engineering industry. Some will say that it fell short of this aim and settled for a self-regulated industry instead. The nation aimed for a protected status for the profession where, in order to be regarded as an engineering practitioner, one—like other highly consequential fields such as medicine, law, etc.—ought to be certified and registered by a licensing body. Instead, it settled on something different—some experts argue it to be suboptimal: i.e., the UK engineering profession is not a protected one—one can, on their own accord, call oneself ‘engineer’. However, to benefit from the prestige and recognition that come with licensing, they could register with the Engineering Council as either engineering technicians (EngTech), incorporated engineers (IEng), or chartered engineers (CEng).
Is the fact that they did not fully follow the recommendations made in the Finniston Report the reason why British manufacturing has not fully witnessed the revival anticipated for it, especially looking at its historic status as the pioneer of industrialisation? For one, its competitor of the time, Germany, now ranks fourth globally when it comes to manufacturing output, and its past colony, the US, ranks second behind China; the UK ranks tenth.
Still on the Case of Ghana
On the matter of regard given to the engineering profession, one can boldly defend Ghana’s case as being entirely different, can we not? I mean, yes, in our case, the regard given the profession seems to be superficial at best… You tell one you are studying engineering or that you are an engineer, and like the lawyer, doctor, and all such other highly regarded professions, you get the “oh, w’abin!” praise. This is, of course, better than the utter disregard to which pre-1980s Britain subjected the profession. But with this superficiality, we, as a nation, also tend to woefully miss the mark. We fail to appreciate how consequential—how directly impactful—the profession is to our socioeconomic advancement. A flourishing engineering industry is, in the end, how we join the ranks of the highly industrialised, highly digitised, and economically prosperous nations of the world. It is that which distinguishes the ‘have nations’ from the ‘have-not nations’ of the world.
As indicated, a good chunk of human advancements throughout history have been orchestrated by engineers coming in different forms—from civil, mechanical, chemical, to electrical and electronic engineering; and the legacy continues with sub- and ever-evolving sectors such as computer and software engineering, industrial, biomedical, petroleum, environmental, aerospace engineering—just to name a few. There is no debating that. So, it is incredibly profound, the duty placed on the shoulders of entities such as the Engineering Council in Ghana. If the engineer be the orchestrator, the Engineering Council is the orchestrator of the orchestrator. In order to perform—and succeed at—its role as the world’s ultimate revolutionary, performing the almost God-like act of creating—to find there, the absence of light, and boldly declare, “let there be light”; to spur human, national, and global advancements, the profession ought to be anchored by a formidable system, by an enabling or regulatory body. In our case, it is the Engineering Council of Ghana. And in the case of our case-study nation, the UK, it is their Engineering Council.
The mandate of the Engineering Council in Ghana to licence professionals and enforce “the highest standards of practice” is not merely so as to achieve individualistic ends for its members. Rather, it is one whose fundamental aims—just like the UK’s Engineering Council and all such other engineering councils of the world—are ultimately patriotic; and most times, when the right enabling environments are created, even globalistic in nature… Securing for one’s country, profound socioeconomic advancement, such as the Industrial Revolution has had on the economies of the developed world, with spillover effects (and I hate to admit this) on many of us in the developing world—again, we are still focused on the virtuous cycle in this piece... And then there are impacts such as that had by the Digital Revolution on the coffers of the developed world, with spillover effects on us all humans interspersed worldwide; impacts such as that presently viciously being brewed by the AI revolution—a revolution whose repercussions are still in the offing; yet to be properly qualified and quantified.
For once, I for one, would like to witness a global phenomenon—spurred by this sector—being spearheaded by this country and continent of ours. But to arrive at this point, there are certain conscious decisions and investments we ought to make as a people. A highly consequential entity—one overseeing such an incredibly consequential sector such as the engineering industry—ought not to be at the fringes of national discourse. It ought to be at the centre of it. Are the prerequisite investments required for the Council and profession as a whole being made? Are the provisions contained in the Act and the L.I. truly serving their purpose of securing the socioeconomic advancement—driven by industrialisation and digitisation—we, as a nation, seek to achieve?
Because I, on the one hand—its faults aside—admire the UK system when it comes to its route to becoming an engineer. Education is highly encouraged but experience and actual hands-on practice are prioritised more in that jurisdiction. On the other hand, I admire the comparatively more cohesive statutory regulatory system we, as a country, aim to achieve for the profession.
The engineering profession—right from the engineering craftsman to the professional engineer—ought not incite in us such superficial awe (the “w’abin” remark), and just end there. It ought to draw in us that realisation of the very direct linkages existing between the profession and our attainment of true and lasting economic prosperity as a people—notably, through industrialisation and digitisation.
Because one could argue the West’s domination in the manufacturing output rankings as being a result of their colonial advantage (and dear reader, you know I would go there in a heartbeat), but one finds a nation such as India, a past colony of the British on the list—placed fifth globally, five steps above its past imperialist.
These are moves our country, Ghana, should be making. And the Engineering Council, headed by its Registrar, Ing. Bedu, they seem to have a keen appreciation of the arduous role they are to play in getting us there. But I am not sure we, as a nation, know same—at least, we have not shown that to be the case. Not yet. And honestly, that is not so surprising… Because ignoring the Creator (or in this case, creator), that is such an expected human blunder.
Author’s Profile:
Yao Afra Yao
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https://muckrack.com/yao-afra-yao
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