Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book addresses a series of vexed questions about African development prospects. It provides a unifying framework that is informed by development theory, economic history, institutional economics, and a comprehensive series of internationally comparable data since 1970. The book examines a diverse Africa from several vantage points: continent-wide, the sub-regions on both sides of the Sahara, 12 representative case-study countries, and manufacturing industries at disaggregated levels. It explains what is meant by industrialization, why it is important, and the various ways to measure the breadth and depth of industrial development. The book explores the special features of successive catchup industrializations in the twentieth century by latecomers with few knowledge assets. It focuses on how the new globalization has opened novel possibilities and new constraints for Africa.