ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on comparative analysis of export performance of the two regions. It is established that export share of manufacturing in Asian economies has been continuously increasing since the availability of export data while share of agriculture has recorded a declining trend. On the other hand, although Africa follows a similar trend the export shares are highly fluctuating. It is only in the mid-1970s when Africa made industrial progress that export share of manufacturing surpassed agriculture. It is not only shares of manufacturing; export performance in general in both regions differs substantially over the last four decades. Exports from Asia have been growing exponentially while in Africa they are more or less static.
The chapter also carries out an intra-regional analysis of export performance of oil-exporting and non-oil exporting countries in Africa. It is shown that the exports in oil-dependent economies are highly fluctuating compared to non-oil-dependent economies suggesting that reliance of natural resources is detrimental to export performance. The chapter also presents the analysis of association of export performance with the level of diversification. It concludes that greater levels of diversification resulted in better export performance.
