Expanding employment through labour-intensive non-traditional exports in Africa
The previous sections have argued that raising labour demand is the central route to poverty alleviation, and that the experience of the last 50 years in East Asian and other emerging economies suggests that this can best be attained through labour-intensive exports, facilitated by foreign technology and investment. In Africa, domestic markets are very small, making exports even more essential.
Export-led growth is often identified with manufacturing, based on East Asia’s and to a lesser extent Latin America’s successes. Collier (2008) is pessimistic about Africa’s ability to compete with Asian manufacturers, given their head start and competitive advantages. Dinh et al. (2012) argue that Africa can compete in some light manufacturing industries, but that weaknesses in the business climate must be remedied.