Industrial policy: promising possibilities for African economic growth and development

Abstract

The main body of this paper is made up of two separate parts each engaging and examining different aspects of industrial policy as they are related to developing African economies. The first part examines the importance of geography and contextual relevance in designing a developmental industrial policy. This part explores how different African economies may each configure their respective industrial policies in relation to their own geography and, social, cultural, and economic context so as to achieve success. The second part explores the important role the state plays in enacting and configuring an effective developmental industrial policy. This part especially highlights how the most effective industrial policy in terms of enhancing multi-sector economic growth tends to be policies enacted by developmental States that are highly involved in implementing specialized and highly integrated developmental policies that consolidate linkages across economic sectors, and is fully embedded into a broader economic development plan.