Africa’s Competitiveness in the Global Economy: Past, Present and Future

Abstract

Improving Africa’s competitiveness has taken on a heightened importance as the region experiences subdued growth following a decade of commodity-fuelled expansion. Meanwhile, efforts to industrialize and diversify beyond the extractive economy are being hampered by their weak competitiveness, a prevalent and persistent problem across the region. On a somewhat positive note, several countries are now making progress with increasing their competitiveness, and there appears to be grounds for cautious optimism about future improvements. This introductory chapter of Africa’s Competitiveness in the Global Economy provides an overview of the historical, current and projected competitiveness of African firms, sectors, cities and nations. The chapter provides an overview of five thematic issues covered by the 13 contributions in this volume: the global competitiveness of African nations and cities, competitiveness measurement and evaluation, sectoral competitiveness of declining and emerging industries, human capital and talent competitiveness, and the threat of the “Dutch Disease” and protectionism to competitiveness.