Murmurs of an industrial revolution in Africa: is it time for Africa?

In the last three decades, the African continent has been undergoing significant changes. At the centre of these changes is the demographic transition, which has been widely described as presenting both opportunities as well as challenges. This chapter focuses on the potential of these demographic changes and related factors to trigger and sustain industrial transformation in Africa. The ongoing demographic transition, amid low levels of productive employment, high levels of poverty, rapid urbanisation and the growing effects of climate change, constitutes the underlying force for transforming the continent. It is argued in the chapter that the dynamic forces that will trigger an industrial transformation in Africa lie within Africa-the African people and the circumstances in which they live. But the African industrial transformation will be different, in many respects, from past industrial transformations, precisely because of the difference in underlying conditions, both within Africa and globally.