While it is possible for economies to grow based on abundant land or natural resources, more often structural change?the shift of resources from low-productivity to high-productivity sectors?is the key driver of economic growth. Structural transformation is vital for Africa. The region?s...

While it is possible for economies to grow based on abundant land or natural resources, more often structural change-the shift of resources from low-productivity to high-productivity sectors-is the key driver of economic growth. Structural transformation is vital for Africa. The region's...

The literature on poverty convergence is sparse and much of the empirical evidence relies on Ravallion (2012) who found a lack of poverty convergence across some ninety Less Developed Countries (LDCs) during 1977-2007. This paper revisits cross-country poverty convergence using data from the...

Empirical evidence in the sparse literature on poverty convergence currently relies on cross-sectional analysis, where Less Developed Countries (LDCs) starting out poorer are found to have enjoyed no faster subsequent poverty reduction during the past three decades than those starting out...

Why industry matters for Africa -- Why industry matters for Africa -- Realities and opportunities -- Industrialization efforts and outcomes -- Can Africa break in? -- Learning to compete -- Productivity, exports and competition -- Firm capabilities -- Industrial clusters -- How Africa can...

Growth and poverty reduction in Africa are weakly linked. This paper argues that the reason is that Africa has failed to create enough good jobs. Structural transformation - the relative growth of employment in high productivity sectors - has not featured in Africa's post-1995 growth story. As a...