Views expressed in this chapter are those of the authors and do not reflect any of the named institutions for which they are associated.
SYNONYMS Comparative advantage Subsidized industries Protectionist policy Economic Transformation DEFINITION(S) i. Import substitution industrialization (ISI) is an industrial development program based on the protection of local infant industries through protective tariffs, import quotas, exchange rate controls, special preferential licensing for capital goods imports, subsidized loans to local infant industries, etc. (Ogujiuba et al, 2011).ii. Import substitution industrialization (ISI) is a theory of economics typically adhered to by developing countries or emerging-market nations that seek to decrease their dependence on developed countries (Segal, 2019).The above definitions have provided some basis on which ISI was developed; this is simply to capacitate means for less developed and emerging market economies to channel ways of becoming self-sufficient in their efforts to harness industrial growth and development. It is a form of selfactualization to enhance prospects in reducing high dependence on the importation of essential goods from the rest of world, thereby creating opportunities through which less favourable and emerging economies can create the capacity to commence industrial production. The focus of this chapter is be broadly aligned to the first highlighted definition going forward, particularly in reference to the 'Applicability of ISI to Africa'. ISI is an integral part of Sustainable Development Goals Agenda nine (SDG9). Hence, there is a need for economic diversification and structural transformation to be set as a core objective in national / domestic infrastructural growth that favours consumption of locally produced goods and services in the short run (see Cleeve, 2010). At the same time, strategic focus should be dedicated in accommodating an open-economy policy to diversifying industrial capacity, with the motive of increasing export promotion in the long-run as emphasised in an IMF staff discussion paper produced by Fabrizio et al (2015).