Accroître les possibilités économiques pour les femmes et les jeunes en Afrique par la transformation structurelle

 

This policy brief provides a synthesis of four country case studies: Ghana, Kenya, Senegal and South Africa. Economic complexity refers to the amount of “productive knowledge” or “technical know-how” within a country. The paper provides a table summarizing product-specific constraints by country.
Country constraints include product certification, which is performed by state agencies. When such agencies lack regulatory capacity, products do not get certified and as result, cannot be exported – inhibiting the growth of firms. Constraints also exist where there is inadequate electricity supply; firms need to invest in expensive diesel-operated generators in order to function.

This study details the degree and extent of economic complexity in Kenya, including the country’s product space, and provides policy options to enable Kenya to move from low to high productivity. It identifies and examines constraints such as the high cost of doing business; the lack of access to finance; inadequate infrastructural support; skills deficiencies; trade in counterfeit products; and stringent product licensing requirements. Of the sectors considered for analysis, most were affected by supply side constraints resulting from poor production techniques. Concerted efforts are needed to upgrade workers’ skills and competencies in the production process.

For a pattern of structural transformation and inclusive growth to assert itself, two key inter-linked ingredients are required: the move from a low productivity agricultural sector to a high productivity, high growth and export-oriented agricultural sector, and the development of a dynamic manufacturing sector which is both employment- and export -intensive. This brief explores the development of a more nuanced model of growth and development for South Africa. It suggests a number of general and sector-specific policy recommendations aimed at growing the manufacturing sector in order generate employment opportunities, especially for women and youth.

This policy brief assesses the prospects for boosting employment through export-led growth, making use of the product-space framework. Product-space analysis enables computation of the economic complexity or implied technological sophistication of exports. The central concept is to diversify exports into increasingly “complex” products embodying sophisticated capabilities. Senegal’s manufacturing exports have risen over time as a share of total exports, but the preponderance of manufactured exports consists of capital-intensive products like chemicals and cement. Exports of labor-intensive manufacturing such as textiles, clothing and shoes have declined sharply over time. Weaknesses in the business climate consist of deficient public services, corruption, and restrictive labor market regulations.

Industry expansion in Ghana is hampered by difficulty in accessing larger markets within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) subregion: products that are exportable through a free tariff regime are subjected to unreasonable delays at the ports. Additionally, costs of production are extremely high: high interest rates, duties on imported raw materials, exchange rate fluctuations, taxes, electricity, as well as labour and training costs. Ineffective regulation and cheap imports are also impediments to economic complexity. ECOWAS countries must commit to enforcing free trade within the sub-region to promote intra West Africa Trade, facilitating the growth of exports and job creation.