Industrialisation and the U.N. Economic Commission for Africa

Abstract

There has been a marked change in recent years in the climate of ideas about industrialisation in developing economies and it is fortunately no longer necessary to argue in favour of industrialisation in opposition to another approach to economic development. Yet it is still necessary to continue to state the basic case, particularly since Africa is industrially the least developed of all the continents. The doctrine that industry is the key to economic development is of comparatively recent origin. Its antecedents are the writings of Professor G. Myrdal and Dr R. Prebisch and the practical achievements of the U.S.S.R. and Japan.

African Development and the Marginalisation of Domestic Capitalists

“…The proposed AfCFTA will work alongside existing regional trade agreements across the continent, with the leaders of African governments committing to work together to develop a continent-wide industrial policy that contributes to the structural transformation of all African countries. Though ambitious, hopeful and far from being realised, the attempt to link industrialisation directly with regional trade harks back to similar objectives of industrial coordination across the continent, proposed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa in the 1960s (UN, 1964Ewing, 1964. 2 These proposals have coincided with Africa's richest businesspeople achieving global prominence.…”

Twenty‐first Century Industrial Policy in a Small Developing Country: The Challenges of Reviving Manufacturing in Rwanda

“…Raul Prebisch (1950) argued that the price of raw materials, which accounted for nearly 90 per cent of exports from developing countries, fell over time relative to the price of manufactured goods. They also inspired a report by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Industrial Growth in Africa (UN, 1963), which struck a hopeful note on industrial coordination across several African countries, advocating the idea of different countries specializing in the manufacture of particular industrial products (Ewing, 1964). They also inspired a report by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Industrial Growth in Africa (UN, 1963), which struck a hopeful note on industrial coordination across several African countries, advocating the idea of different countries specializing in the manufacture of particular industrial products (Ewing, 1964).…”

“…As head of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America, Prebisch's ideas provided an intellectual basis for ISI policies globally. They also inspired a report by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Industrial Growth in Africa (UN, 1963), which struck a hopeful note on industrial coordination across several African countries, advocating the idea of different countries specializing in the manufacture of particular industrial products (Ewing, 1964).…”