ABSTRACT
This chapter uses the survey material generated by the RPED to throw light on a number of questions relating to the export activity of manufacturing firms in the sample countries. While a good deal has been written on the macro problems of African exports, there has been little discussion so far on the microeconomics of firm behavior relating to exports. The availability of the RPED material enables us to fill the gap to some extent. The Extent of Export Activity
The following table summarizes the data on export structure of RPED sample firms. The first point to stand out from these figures is that exports are not so insignificant for manufacturing firms as might be concluded from the macro picture for Africa discussed in the last chapter. The percentage of the total sales exported, however, varies considerably from country to country. Firms in Côte d’Ivoire export 22% of their total sales. The other Francophone country, Cameroon and Zimbabwe are also significant exporters at more than 10% of sales. But at the other extreme firms in Zambia export only around 2%, and the other Anglophone countries have low export ratios as well. This picture of inter-country differences is in line with that observed in macro data earlier. The table also gives the export ratio by industry. It is seen that in the more exportoriented countries wood products are the more prominent items of export, followed by textiles and metals. Food is an important export item in Côte d’Ivoire and Kenya.
