Industrial Policy and Economic Transformation in Africa

The revival of economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa is all the more welcome for having followed one of the worst economic disasters since the industrial revolution. Six of the world's fastest growing economies in the 2000s were African. But with the exception of Ethiopia and Rwanda, the growth of these African nations was largely fueled by discoveries and the rising price of oil. Deindustrialization has yet to be reversed and structural transformation remains limited.

This book explores the vital role that industrial policies can play in bringing about a transformation of African economies. Such policies pertain not just to industry. They traverse all economic sectors, including finance, information technology, and agriculture. More accurately understood as a package of learning, industrial, and technology (LIT) policies, they aim to bring vigorous and lasting growth to the region. This collection features case studies of LIT policies in action in many parts of the world, examining their risks and rewards and what they mean for Sub-Saharan Africa.

Akbar Noman teaches at Columbia University, where he is a senior fellow at the Initiative for Policy Dialogue (IPD), cochair of its Africa Task Force, and adjunct associate professor at the School of International and Public Affairs. He has also worked at Oxford University, the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex, a number of international organizations, including the World Bank, and at senior levels in government.

Joseph E. Stiglitz is University Professor at Columbia University, former chief economist and senior vice president of the World Bank, and former chair of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Clinton. His books include Making Globalization Work; Freefall: America, Free Markets, and the Sinking of the World Economy;The Price of Inequality: How Today's Divided Society Endangers Our Future;Fair Trade for All (with Andrew Charlton), and Creating a Learning Society: A New Approach to Growth, Development, and Social Progress (with Bruce C. Greenwald). In 2001, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in economics.