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For a growing number of countries in Africa the discovery and exploitation of natural resources is a great opportunity, but one accompanied by considerable risks. In Africa, countries dependent on oil, gas, and mining have tended to have weaker long-run growth, higher rates of poverty, and greater income inequality than less resource-abundant economies. In resource-producing economies, relative prices make it more difficult to diversify into activities outside of the resource sector, limiting structural change. Economic structure matters for at least two reasons. First, countries whose exports are highly concentrated are vulnerable to declining prices and volatility. Second, economic diversification matters for long-term growth. This book presents research undertaken to understand how better management of the revenues and opportunities associated with natural resources can accelerate diversification and structural change in Africa. It begins with chapters on managing the boom, the construction sector, and linking industry to the resource—three major issues that frame the question of how to use natural resources for structural change. It then reports the main research results for five countries—Ghana, Mozambique, Uganda, Tanzania, and Zambia. Each country study covers the same three themes—managing the boom, the construction sector, and linking industry to the resource. One message that clearly emerges is that good policy can make a difference. A concluding chapter sets out some ideas for policy change in each of the areas that guided the research, and then goes on to propose some ideas for widening the options for structural change.

Africa --- natural resources --- oil --- gas --- mining --- resource-abundant economies --- economic diversification --- structural change --- long-term growth

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While it is possible for economies to grow based on abundant land or natural resources, more often structural change—the shift of resources from low-productivity to high-productivity sectors—is the key driver of economic growth. Structural transformation is vital for Africa. The region’s much-lauded growth turnaround since 1995 has been the result of fewer economic policy mistakes, robust commodity prices, and new discoveries of natural resources. At the same time, Africa’s economic structure has changed very little. Primary commodities and natural resources still account for the bulk of exports. Industry is most often the leading driver of structural transformation. Africa’s experience with industrialization over the past thirty years has been disappointing. In 2010, sub-Saharan Africa’s average share of manufacturing value added in GDP was 10 per cent, unchanged from the 1970s. In fact the share of medium- and high-tech goods in manufacturing production has been falling since the mid-1990s. Per capita manufactured exports are less than 10 per cent of the developing country average. Consequently, Africa’s industrial transformation has yet to take place. This book presents results of comparative country-based research that sought to answer a seemingly simple but puzzling question: why is there so little industry in Africa? It brings together detailed country case studies of industrial policies and industrialization outcomes in eleven countries, conducted by teams of national researchers in partnership with experts on industrial development. It provides the most comprehensive description and analysis available of the contemporary industrialization experience in low-income Africa.

natural resources --- structural transformation --- economic growth --- africa --- industrial development