Industrialisation and Trade
Africa must benefit from its mineral resources
Africa’s political economy is deeply ingrained with its history of the exploitation and (mis)management of its mineral and natural resources. More than 500 years after commercial exploitation of Africa’s resources, Africa continues to host many of the large and unexploited deposits of minerals globally. For example, Africa accounts for three-quarters of the world’s platinum supply, …
Global value chains. Africa factory floor world
In order to significantly transform the economies of Africa from the current low-income level to middle-income status, value must be added to Africa’s large reservoir of natural and agricultural resources through processing and manufacturing activities – implicit in the transition process from predominantly agrarian to industrial economies. It is a fact that Africa’s recent relatively …
Africa needs structural transformation not structural adjustment
The rationale for much of the current discourse of the “African Moment” and “Africa Rising” is clear. Some of the fastest growing economies in the world are African. Africa has shown relative buoyancy in an era of economic crisis. While global growth declined by 2.7% last year, Africa bucked the trend and grew at 5%. …
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Large scale commodity-based industrialization in Africa is imperative, possible and beneficial
African countries are growing but have not been able to fulfil their industrial potential. This is due to a number of internal, external and historical reasons but mainly because of failure of policies, often imposed on Africa. Of particular note are the legacies of Africa’s colonialism which left institutions and infrastructure designed to enhance extraction …