Job creation in sub-Saharan Africa

Despite rapid economic growth in many African countries, there has been very little economic transformation. Being the key driver behind increasing incomes, raising the standard of living and poverty alleviation, the lack of economic transformation has resulted in very limited job creation.

Employment and economic transformation are the cumulative outcomes of successful industrial policies. African governments generally have been less successful in implementing industrial policies, historically and during the contemporary period, compared to other developing country regions. The book The Politics of African Industrial Policysets out to understand why.

The authors draw on theories within the comparative political economy of development literature to formulate an Elaborated Political Settlement Theory for understanding the conditions under which industrial policies are successfully implemented. Relations between political elites, capitalists and bureaucrats are especially important as are the specific distribution of power in society. The authors also identify the politics that fit these conditions even in countries with clientelistic political settlements, which characterize all developing countries.

Their theory is specifically used to understand the design, implementation, and outcomes of industrial policies in four African countries: Ghana, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Uganda. The authors explain the generally limited success with implementing industrial policies in these countries, but also variations in success across the four countries and across sectors within the same country.

Reviewers write:

"This provocative book goes beyond the aggregate data on economic growth in Africa to argue that industrial policy is the key to sustainable development. By carefully analyzing national- and sectorial-level variations in industrial policies in Ghana, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Uganda, the authors expose the problems and prospects of accomplishing meaningful economic transformation. Their findings will stimulate exciting new debates regarding the contemporary political economy of Africa."

Anne Pitcher, University of Michigan

"This is a landmark contribution to the study of African political economy that brings considerable conceptual sophistication and empirical depth to key debates in the field. At the same time, this outstanding study provides insights for broader discussions of industrialization and the developmental state that will make it necessary reading for scholars and students of comparative politics more generally."

Ricardo Soares de Oliveira, University of Oxford