Playing to Strength : Growth Strategy for Small Agrarian Economies in Africa
With urban industrialization on the scale achieved by East Asian economies looking increasingly less plausible, small economies in Africa need an alternative strategic approach to long-term growth. The purpose of this paper is to identify a growth...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2018
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/198021533665590055/Playing-to-strength-growth-strategy-for-small-agrarian-economies-in-Africa http://hdl.handle.net/10986/30233 |
| Summary: | With urban industrialization on the
scale achieved by East Asian economies looking increasingly
less plausible, small economies in Africa need an
alternative strategic approach to long-term growth. The
purpose of this paper is to identify a growth strategy with
the greatest potential for small, landlocked economies in
East Africa. The paper uses Malawi, Rwanda, and Uganda as
case studies to explore the potential for growth in
agriculture, manufacturing, and tourism in these countries.
The paper marshals extensive reasoning that while the
manufacturing sector and exports of light labor or resource
intensive manufactures could contribute a fraction of
aggregate growth, it is agriculture, agribusiness, and
services that will contribute the lion’s share because of an
unprecedented convergence of technologies. Industrialized
agriculture and agri-business could enable these countries
to sustain rapid growth even in the face of climate change.
Malawi, Rwanda, and Uganda, with some trying, can accelerate
their convergence to the technological frontier to take full
advantage of this promise. Undoubtedly, there are obstacles
to transferring the advanced technologies wholesale to East
Africa, but their eventual assimilation is a must and the
removal of hurdles needs to be addressed. Extracting the
maximum growth mileage will require policy action on
multiple fronts. |
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