Can Service Be a Growth Escalator in Low-Income Countries?

Several high-level reports have raised the concern that low-income countries, especially in Africa, are experiencing premature de-industrialization. Have the latecomers to development missed the boat? Are they growing without any structural transformation? Not really. Although their manufacturing sector is not growing, they are benefitting from the Third Industrial Revolution which has enabled them to catch up faster. As services produced and traded across the world expand with advances in technology and globalization, the possibilities for low-income countries to grow faster based on their comparative advantage increases. That comparative advantage can just as easily be in services as in manufacturing. Growth escalators faced by the Lions in Africa may turn out to be different than that experienced by the East Asian Tigers