Industrialisation in Africa: Leading Countries and Reasons for Their Success

The document examines industrialisation trends in Africa, identifying South Africa, Morocco, and Egypt as leaders while highlighting the challenges of commodity dependence and premature deindustrialisation. It analyzes specific success stories in Ethiopia's textiles, Rwanda's ICT, and Ghana's automotive sectors, and argues for structuralist policies and increased EU support for green industries and climate finance to accelerate the transition.

• Africa's industrial performance has lagged behind other developing regions over the last forty years, with a manufacturing value added (MVA) as a percentage of GDP averaging 10.57%, compared to 13.95% in Asia and 16.93% in Latin America.
• African economies are characterized by high export concentration and low diversification; in 2022, Africa's product export concentration index was 0.593 and its diversification index was 0.240, significantly higher and lower respectively than East Asian economies (0.329 and 0.121).
• South Africa is the most industrialised nation on the continent, maintaining a dominant position in the Africa Industrialisation Index (AII) and Competitive Industrial Performance (CIP) indices for a decade due to its diverse economy, infrastructure, and skilled labour.
• Specific sectoral successes include Ethiopia's textile and garment industry, which saw MVA grow fourfold between 2010 and 2019 to nearly USD 5 billion, and Rwanda's ICT sector, which the government aims to increase to at least 10% of GDP within ten years.
• Ghana is attempting to transition from importing pre-owned vehicles to establishing a competitive automotive hub, attracting over 11 Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) since 2019, with a goal of operating 12,027 electric public buses by 2050.
• The document argues that Africa requires USD 2.8 trillion by 2030 to implement its nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement, yet actual climate finance flows were only USD 30 billion in 2020.

APA

Acheampong, T., & Vitenu-Sackey, P. A. (2024). Industrialisation in Africa: Leading Countries and Reasons for Their Success. Africa Policy Research Institute. https://afripoli.org/industrialisation-in-africa-leading-countries-and-reasons-for-their-success

Chicago

Acheampong, Theo, and Prince Asare Vitenu-Sackey. Industrialisation in Africa: Leading Countries and Reasons for Their Success. Africa Policy Research Institute, 2024. https://afripoli.org/industrialisation-in-africa-leading-countries-and-reasons-for-their-success.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Acheampong |first1=Theo |last2=Vitenu-Sackey |first2=Prince Asare |title=Industrialisation in Africa: Leading Countries and Reasons for Their Success |publisher=Africa Policy Research Institute |date=10 October 2024 |url=https://afripoli.org/industrialisation-in-africa-leading-countries-and-reasons-for-their-success |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{acheampong2024industrialisation, author = {Acheampong, Theo and Vitenu-Sackey, Prince Asare}, title = {{Industrialisation in Africa: Leading Countries and Reasons for Their Success}}, institution = {Africa Policy Research Institute}, year = {2024}, month = oct, url = {https://afripoli.org/industrialisation-in-africa-leading-countries-and-reasons-for-their-success}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }