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'Resurgent Africa: Structural Transformation in Sustainable Development' is a study of structural change dynamics in Africa and its effect on job creation, living standards and the efficiency of productive cities through manufacturing productivity growth that benefit the majority. Empirical data from selected African countries, including Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia, provides in-depth analysis and knowledge of the continent's diversified economies by establishing relationships between industrialization trends; rates of urbanization; and urban living standards, income growth and employment in Africa. The findings reveal unconventional pathways of structural change, patterns of jobless growth suggesting economic growth that does not necessarily lead to employment, dominance of services at the expense of manufacturing industry explaining the regress in Africa's industrial sector and occurrence of structural transformation without improvement in labour productivity. These are important concerns for Africa's long-term development leading to the conclusion that sustainable urbanization and industrialization are not only closely connected but also key drivers of economic change. The book includes recommendations for policymakers to adopt a new approach to development for a resurgent Africa

'Resurgent Africa: Structural Transformation in Sustainable Development' is a study of structural change dynamics in Africa and its effect on job creation, living standards and the efficiency of productive cities through manufacturing productivity growth that benefit the majority. Empirical data from selected African countries, including Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia, provides in-depth analysis and knowledge of the continent's diversified economies by establishing relationships between industrialization trends; rates of urbanization; and urban living standards, income growth and employment in Africa. The findings reveal unconventional pathways of structural change, patterns of jobless growth suggesting economic growth that does not necessarily lead to employment, dominance of services at the expense of manufacturing industry explaining the regress in Africa's industrial sector and occurrence of structural transformation without improvement in labour productivity. These are important concerns for Africa's long-term development leading to the conclusion that sustainable urbanization and industrialization are not only closely connected but also key drivers of economic change. The book includes recommendations for policymakers to adopt a new approach to development for a resurgent Africa.

This article examines institutions and their role in supporting technical change as part of the development process, and asks how institutions shape the system of innovation (SI). The context of underdevelopment exhibits distinct system characteristics that differ markedly from those found under advanced economic conditions and as such deserves close empirical scrutiny. SIs differ significantly under the two sets of conditions, leading to uneven structural changes. The article, therefore, explores what functions must be served by systems in developing countries in order to generate technical dynamism. To compare different contexts, it introduces the idea of a 'system of learning innovation in development' (SLID) that emphasises individual and organisational competence building. The differences between 'advanced' systems of innovation (ASI) and two types of SLID are discussed. Infrastructure, one of the key components of institutions involved in development, is used as an illustration. The study found that dynamic SIs function best in a regime of high-quality infrastructure (telephone, Internet, computers and reliable electricity supplies). The case of sub-Saharan Africa serves to illustrate the point.

Clusters are characterised by two dynamic elements: the rates and types of technological learning, and the nature and intensity of networking. Firms in early industrialisation are largely imitative innovators drawing on a variety of formal and informal sources such as licensing and reverse engineering. There is, therefore, a significant correlation between firm-level technological capabilities and external knowledge networks. We define a knowledge network as a structure of interlinked actors that facilitate the process of learning in firms and institutions in the process of innovation. This paper identifies emerging knowledge networks in African clusters, illustrating with new empirical data front clusters in Nigeria.

Cover -- Half Title -- Series Page -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Table of Contents -- List of figures -- List of tables -- Preface -- Acknowledgements -- Abbreviations -- Chapter 1 Asia's Industrial Progress and Africa's Reversal of Fortune -- Chapter 2 Export Diversification in Resource and Non-Resource Rich Asian and African Countries -- Chapter 3 Oil Dependence and Structural Stability -- Chapter 4 Export Market Diversification in Asia and Africa -- Chapter 5 Technological Capability and Export Diversification -- Chapter 6 Export Diversification, Governance Institution and Policies -- Chapter 7 Summary and conclusion -- Appendix -- References -- Index.

"This book examines long-term structural changes and the broad impact on economic development in regional comparative perspectives. The book analyzes data across Africa, Asia and Latin America. It looks at key variables of productivity growth, industrialization, poverty, urbanization, and employment. This book is concerned with understanding structural change dynamics and how it affects job creation, living standards, and the efficiency of productive cities through manufacturing productivity growth that benefits majority of citizens.?With empirical evidence from a selected number of developing countries including China, India, Brazil, Nigeria and South Africa, the book attempts to present the considerable structural changes of these countries over the last few decades. It highlights that growth without the expected job creation is one of the distinct features of growth in emerging and developing countries. It suggests that countries may well record economic growth, whether through within sector productivity increase or through structural change, but this may not necessarily lead to employment, an important concern for long-term development."--Provided by publisher

Intro -- Contents -- Figures -- Tables -- Contributors -- Preface -- Acknowledgements -- 1 Introduction: Clusters and innovation systems in Africa -- 2 Industrialization through cluster upgrading: Theoretical perspectives -- 3 From clusters to innovation systems in traditional industries -- 4 Industrializing Kenya: Building the productive capacity of micro and small enterprise clusters -- 5 Small and micro enterprise clusters in Tanzania: Can they generate industrial dynamism? -- 6 Learning in local systems and global links: The Otigba computer hardware cluster in Nigeria -- 7 Power and firms' learning in the Egyptian furniture cluster of Domiatt -- 8 Learning to change: Why the fish processing clusters in Uganda learned to upgrade -- 9 The Durban Auto Cluster: Global competition, collective efficiency and local development -- 10 Global markets and local responses: The changing institutions in the Lake Victoria fish cluster -- 11 Government support and enabling environment for inter-firm cluster cooperation: Policy lessons from South Africa -- 12 Institutional support for collective ICT learning: Cluster development in Kenya and Ghana -- 13 Conclusion and policy implications -- Index.

AbstractThe paper analyses collaborative learning in knowledge generation in biotechnology in two very late follower economies, namely, Nigeria and Ghana in order to compare the innovation and entrepreneurship experiences they present. We suggest that the quality of physical infrastructure, knowledge infrastructure (including appropriate human skills), in addition to institutions and incentives for innovation contribute in large part to observed processes of innovation success. Regardless of whether the initiating step is the incremental design or laboratory‐based R&D stage, these factors are critical determinants of commercialisation. We use empirical data from the public sector institutions collected through field level surveys to substantiate these results. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.