Mapping Global and Regional Value Chains in SACU : Sector-Level Overviews
In considering the prospects for expanding non-commodities exports, the SACU region faces a global environment that has changed markedly over the past two decades. First, trade is increasingly shifting away from high income countries and toward dev...
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| Format: | Report |
| Language: | English en_US |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2016
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2016/01/25840685/mapping-global-regional-value-chains-sacu-sector-level-overviews http://hdl.handle.net/10986/23790 |
| Summary: | In considering the prospects for
expanding non-commodities exports, the SACU region faces a
global environment that has changed markedly over the past
two decades. First, trade is increasingly shifting away from
high income countries and toward developing countries.
Second and perhaps most importantly, is the increasing
importance of or ‘global production networks’ or ‘global
value chains’ (GVCs). With wages rising rapidly in China and
other places where GVC-oriented trade is concentrated, parts
of these value chains are migrating to new global locations.
Some estimates indicate that over the next generation 85
million manufacturing jobs will migrate from coastal China,
and Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to be a major
beneficiary. The SACU region, with its abundance of natural
capital and surplus labor, along with a relatively high
quality infrastructure and institutional environment, should
be in a good position to attract investment and create a
‘factory Southern Africa’. Beyond assembly manufacturing
that is typical of GVCs (e.g. apparel, electronics,
automotive), the region should also be well-placed to
compete as a location for value-addition to agricultural and
mineral commodities (‘beneficiation’). Both types of
investment would not only drive exports and have the
potential to create significant employment, but also support
upgrading by accessing global technologies and knowledge.
And with growing markets across Africa, a ‘factory Southern
Africa’ might increasingly be sustainable in the regional context. |
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