Structural transformation in Sub-Saharan Africa

This chapter analyzes the extent to which structural transformation, defined as the shift of workers from low to high average productivity activities and sectors, occurred across countries in sub-Saharan Africa from 1995 to 2010. This has been a period of high growth for a significant number of countries in subSaharan Africa, and this chapter finds that most have experienced some degree of structural transformation, albeit at different speeds and following different paths. But while the Asian countries against which sub-Saharan African countries are benchmarked in this chapter largely transformed through low-wage manufacturing, it is not obvious this will be the path for most sub-Saharan African countries. Depending on resource endowments, labor skills, and other factors, some sub-Saharan African countries may follow the Asian path through low-wage manufacturing, whereas others may transform through services, and still others through the transformation of their agricultural sector