Publications /
Research Paper

Back
Industrialization in Africa: Issues and Policies
Authors
October 6, 2023

This paper reviews the past performance of industrialization in Africa and identifies key considerations for policymaking. To date, African countries have lagged in industrialization compared to other continents, in spite of the determined efforts and aspirations of their leaders. However, recent evidence suggests that Africa’s de-industrialization trend began to reverse in the past decade, with some countries experiencing growth in manufacturing employment. Notably, more jobs have emerged in micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, than in large, formal businesses where productivity is generally higher.

Hence, African countries must design development strategies that balance job creation with productivity growth—the foundation of sustainable economic growth. Solely adopting traditional export-oriented industrialization through foreign direct investment (FDI) will not adequately address critical employment concerns, considering Africa's predominantly young population. Conversely, only expanding indigenous, informal economic activities to accommodate the growing labor pool will not bolster long-term economic growth, especially as advanced manufacturing technologies have become more capital-intensive and require specific skills.

RELATED CONTENT

  • Authors
    Under the Supervision of
    October 2, 2019
    Africa is an economic region which holds great potential despite the risks associated with its development. Indeed, many experts agree that Africa is emerging as the new frontier for global growth. Boosted by its abundant natural resources, a young and vibrant population, strong urbanization, more stable macroeconomic conditions, more stringent economic policies, a constantly improving business climate and improving governance, Africa is on track for a structural transformation that ...
  • Authors
    Sous la direction de
    October 2, 2019
    Le Rapport sur l’économie de l’Afrique s’inscrit dans une série de documents annuels publiés par le Policy Center for the New South (PCNS). Les grandes évolutions économiques du continent y sont traitées, avec une large place faite à l’analyse prospective. Ce rapport s’ajoute ainsi au Rapport annuel sur la géopolitique de l’Afrique et l'Annual Report on Commodity Analytics and Dynamics in Africa (Arcadia), écrits par des chercheurs issus du Nord comme du Sud. Le Rapport sur l’écono ...
  • September 24, 2019
    En pleine transition ordonnée de son régime de change, sous l'autorité bienveillante du Fonds monétaire international (FMI), le Royaume du Maroc est un exemple très concret des avantages et des inconvénients des deux régimes de change dominants ces dernières décennies/change fixe et change flottant /. L’objet de cette note est de rappeler, tout d'abord, les fondamentaux économiques des deux systèmes et leur environnement historique (I). Ensuite, à la lumière de ces fondamentaux, pré ...
  • September 1, 2019
    Income inequality is high in Morocco. In 2013, the share of national income1  of the richest 10% in Morocco stood at nearly 32%, 12 times higher than the share of national income of the poorest 10% of the population. This paper argues that, drawing on international experience, there is much more that Morocco’s government can do to reduce inequality while at the same time enhancing growth and – possibly – doing so in a manner that is budget-neutral or even budget-positive. Top of the ...
  • August 23, 2019
    Income inequality is high in Morocco. In 2013, the share of national income of the richest 10% in Morocco stood at nearly 32%, 12 times higher than the share of national income of the poorest 10% of the population. High inequality can adversely affect long-term growth as it tends to be associated with underutilization of human potential. This paper argues that, drawing on international experience, there is much more that Morocco’s government can do to reduce inequality while at the ...
  • Authors
    Christos Daoulas
    August 22, 2019
    This note approaches the relationship between natural wealth and economic growth, using the case of Sub-Sahara African economies as an illustration. Delving into recent World Bank reports, it highlights how a sustained positive correlation between natural capital and GDP growth happens through the transformation of the former into other forms of assets: produced capital, human capital and other intangible assets. Governance features and the quality of macroeconomic policies are of t ...
  • August 9, 2019
    China’s economic records over the past four decades generated the intellectual curiosity of many foreign observers and researchers . The development pathway of Beijing is interesting to study as it proves that a country can take its destiny in its own hand. This paper tries to draw possible lessons from the Chinese development path to see if some of them could be adaptable to feed the development of the African countries. Introduction Forty years ago, China opened up its economy t ...
  • Authors
    Richard Seshie
    July 26, 2019
    Richard Seshie est un Alumni du programme des Atlantic Dialogues Emerging Leaders 2017. Cet article a été précédemment publié ici.  Il prévaut fortement cette idée que nos pouvoirs publics ne sauraient jouer un rôle important pour les startups en Afrique. Dans plusieurs pays, leur nonchalance ou implication maladroite passée laisse dubitatif. Toutefois, c'est la nature historiquement extravertie de nos économies et ses implications qui devrait susciter plus qu'ailleurs un activism ...
  • Authors
    Matheus Cavallari
    Tiago Ribeiro dos Santos
    July 19, 2019
    Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) have two financing windows, with different terms, dedicated to low- and middle-income countries. Countries are presumed to cross those windows as their income per capita rises, with middle-income countries (MICs) eventually “graduating” to a non-client status once they reach some criteria. However, due to what may be called “middle-income traps”, such progression toward graduation has been limited to a small number of countries. ...