New Pathways to Job Creation and Development in Africa

Creating productive jobs for growing a labor force is both one of the world’s greatest challenges as well as one of its greatest economic opportunities, and one of the most consequential global megatrends. Nowhere is the job creation challenge more acute than for young people in Africa.

In response to this challenge and to also address Africa’s structural economic transformation, the Africa Growth Initiative at Brookings has undertaken research on the prospects for large-scale job creation through the development of “industries without smokestacks” including tourism, agro-processing, horticulture, and services that has revealed a promising path forward.

This book is the first to document the potential for non-traditional industries to address the formal sector job creation that is critical for Africa to simultaneously harness its demographic dividend and achieve structural transformation. In the face of premature deindustrialization, many economists have voiced pessimism about Africa’s ability to replicate past economic development models. The book also documents the potential of an alternative economic development model for Africa based on industries without smokestacks. Finally, the book suggests practical policy solutions to realize the potential of these industries.

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Africa’s greatest challenge is creating large scale employment for its growing young population. While the region looks to opportunities to turn itself into a manufacturing powerhouse like the so-called Asian tigers, it must not overlook other promising avenues for structural transformation that can propel its economies forward. This book offers timely and important recommendations to embrace a development model that leverages industries without smokestacks, presenting a compelling path forward. The book is a must read for policymakers and development practitioners, students of economics and other stakeholders interested in Africa’s future.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General, World Trade Organization

As manufacturing becomes less labor-intensive globally, Sub-Saharan African nations have to devise growth strategies that do not rely on industrialization. This fascinating volume shows the process has already started and argues that a range of activities from tourism to business services holds significant potential. It takes the discussion on Africa’s economic future a significant step forward.

Dani Rodrik, Ford Foundation Professor of International Political Economy, Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government

This volume promises an understanding of the endogeneity of industrialization that can shape domestic policies for job creation. It offers hope after the failure of import substitution and export-led strategies in African economies for over sixty years now. This is the importance of this volume and its contribution.

Njuguna Ndung'u, Former Cabinet Secretary, Kenya's National Treasury and Economic Planning

Pathways is a valuable contribution to the literature on how African governments can generate the millions of jobs their citizens need. Its focus is on industries of the future: it argues that they will be high-value agricultural activities like crop processing and service activities like tourism and business support. As it shows, this new Africa is already emerging, encouraged by pioneering governments. The book should be read by ministers, officials, and investors around the continent.

Paul Collier, Professor of Economics and Public Policy, Oxford University; author of Left Behind: A New Economics for Neglected Places

From Deindustrialization to Job Creation: New Perspectives on African Growth
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Rwanda: Harnessing the Power of the Next Generation
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Uganda: Leaving Agriculture in Search of Progress on Transformation
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Ethiopia: Building on Manufacturing Momentum to Create New Jobs in Other Sectors
Tsegay Gebrekidan Tekleselassie
Senegal: Overcoming Stagnant Industrialization with New Sources of Job Creation
Ahmadou Aly Mbaye, Fatou Gueye, Assane Beye, Abdou Khadir Dia, and Massaer Mbaye
Ghana: Beyond Jobless Growth to Productive Employment
Ernest Aryeetey, Priscilla Twumasi, and Festus Ebo Turkson
Kenya: Linking Manufacturing and Industries without Smokestacks to Drive Transformation
Boaz Munga, Eldah Onsomu, Nancy Laibuni, Humphrey Njogu, Adan Shibia, and Samantha Luseno
Zambia: From Mineral Dependence to Skill Development in New Sectors
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South Africa: In Search of an Employment Escape to a Growth Path
Caitlin Allen, Zaakhir Asmal, Haroon Bhorat, Robert Hill, Jabulile Monnakgotla, Morne Oosthuizen, and Christopher Rooney
Policies to Create Productive Jobs in Africa: Unleashing Industries without Smokestacks
Chris Heitzig, Richard Newfarmer, and John Page