ABSTRACT
Arguably, industrialisation plays a vital role in economic growth and development. Empirical facts reveal that all the developed countries of the world broke the vicious circle of underdevelopment through industrialisation. The transformation experiences of countries from pre-industrial to industrial levels of economic status show close associations between industrialisation, and economic growth and development. Indeed, from classical development economics theory, manufacturing – which is at the core of industrial activity – was touted as the engine of growth in the industrialisation era due to its ability to facilitate economies of scale (with increasing returns to scale) and economies of scope. A point for further emphasis is that, where it is properly developed, the manufacturing sector clearly serves as a central joint, linking economic activities at the lower levels of the value chain (i.e. economic activities in the primary sector) with those at the higher levels of the value chain (i.e. economic activities in the tertiary sector, quaternary sector, quinary sector, etc.). Also, as alluded to in Chapter 2, the strategic role of industrialisation for economic growth and development is usually associated with the impact it has on various factors that signify development. These include: higher economic productivity and increasing returns to scale, technology and spill-over effects; high capital intensity; diversification through forward and backward linkages of the various sectors of the economy; demand consideration; and creation and diversification of employment. Accordingly, these factors have been used – in a variety of combinations – to explain the mechanisms behind the industrialisation-led theories of growth and economic development, and to justify industrialisation as a necessary stage of economic development and an objective parse. Cognisant of the essence of industrialisation, literally all governments in post-colonial Africa and their development partners have prioritised industrial development, and initiated measures to realise this goal. Complementary initiatives have been undertaken at regional levels, within the framework of Regional Economic Communities (RECs). Using two RECs, i.e. the East African community (EAC) and Southern African Development Community (SADC), this chapter assesses the extent to which the industrialisation has been integrated into the development agenda at
the sub-regional level. It also examines the saliencies of the industrial economy in the two RECs.
