This report provides concrete policy recommendations for African policy makers and their development partners on how to promote sustainable structural transformation in Africa, meaning a sustainable structural transformation that integrates the relative decoupling of natural resource use and environmental impacts from the growth process. The Report also discusses why a strategy of sustainable structural transformation is important for Africa, how strategic priorities can be identified and the role of the national State and the international community in such a strategy.

This publication examines the status of industrial development in Africa with a focus on the identification of stylized facts associated with African manufacturing. It provides an analysis of past attempts at promoting industrial development in the region and the lessons learned from these experiences. It offers policy recommendations on how to foster industrial development in Africa in the new global environment characterized by changing international trade rules, growing influence of industrial powers from the South, the internationalization of production, and increasing concerns about climate change. Finally, it argues that a new industrial policy is needed to induce structural transformation and engender development in African economies.

"This book challenges conventional wisdoms about economic performance and possible policies for economic development in African countries. Its starting point is the striking variation in African economic performance. Unevenness and inequalities form a central fact of African economic experiences. The authors highlight not only differences between countries, but also variations within countries, differences often organized around distinctions of gender, class, and ethnic identity. For example, neo-natal mortality and school dropout have been reduced, particularly for some classes of women in some areas of Africa. Horticultural and agribusiness exports have grown far more rapidly in some countries than in others. These variations (and many others) point to opportunities for changing performance, reducing inequalities, learning from other policy experiences, and escaping the ties of structure, and the legacies of a colonial past. The book rejects teleological illusions and Eurocentric prejudice, but it does pay close attention to the results of policy in more industrialized parts of the world. Seeing the contradictions of capitalism for what they are - fundamental and enduring - may help policy officials protect themselves against the misleading idea that development can be expected to be a smooth, linear process, or that it would be were certain impediments suddenly removed. The authors criticize a wide range of orthodox and heterodox economists, especially for their cavalier attitude to evidence. Drawing on their own decades of research and policy experience, they combine careful use of available evidence from a range of African countries with political economy insights (mainly derived from Kalecki, Kaldor and Hischman) to make the policy case for specific types of public sector investment"--

"This new book provides analyses of capitalism versus socialism as well as case studies illuminating the latest economic developments in the shift taking place in Africa."--BOOK JACKET.

This publication assesses long-term trends in Africa's growth, analyses the factors behind the recent growth momentum, and provides global perspectives on the key challenges to be addressed, which are critical to unleashing the role of Africa as a global growth pole. The main aim of this publication is to facilitate discussion on concrete policy directions and actions at both national and regional levels that would help Africa realize its growth potential. As in previous editions, the first part of the report examines recent economic and social developments as well as some selected current and emerging development issues in Africa. The second part focuses on the question of how to address key constraints and unleash the potential of the continent as a new pole of global growth.

Presenting a topical analysis of the challenges and achievements of enterprise, Enterprise and Economic Development in Africa examines contributions to economic development on the continent, as well as exploring implications for policy dimensions.

"The services sector critical source of income and employment in Africa. As the most dominant sector in many African economies, it has become a dynamic driver of growth in the continent in recent years. This dynamism, however, has not translated into a structural transformation of the continent. Africa's services provision remains suboptimal and is delivered at a high cost. Various regulatory and policy shortcomings prevail, which explain these inefficiencies and impede Africa's capacity to fully capitalize on the potential of its services sector. If the continent is to fully realize the benefits of development, services must play an enhanced role in the growth process. Regulation of and policies for infrastructure services need to better target existing market failures and address structural impediments to improve performance in the sector and unleash the potential of Africa's services economy. The Economic Development in Africa Report 2015, subtitled Unlocking the Potential of Africa's Services Trade for Growth and Development, examines some of the major policy issues that underlie Africa's services sector and provides policy guidance on how services could contribute to Africa's regional integration and generate inclusive growth and employment. More broadly, the report discusses how services can contribute to sustainable growth and development continent-wide, especially given the enabling role of services and their capacity to link with other sectors. Africa needs to boost services trade and become better integrated in global value chains. The report makes specific and actionable policy recommendations on how to better leverage Africa's services trade and the related development, employment and growth benefits. The report emphasizes the need for greater policy coherence at the national, regional and international levels to address services sector and trade policy disconnects."--Publisher's description.