Industrialization in Sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges and Opportunities

The authors have analysed the process of industrialization in Sub-Saharan Africa using statistical data of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the World Bank and have justified the increasing role of this region for the world economy. The growth of wages in China promotes the interest to African countries in terms of the organization of industrial production there. The authors reveal the spatial aspects of industrialization in Africa and the location of the manufacturing industry. The main prerequisites for the industrialization of Sub-Saharan Africa were high rates of urbanization, growing labour force and its level of qualification, a high proportion of young people in the population structure, a growing domestic market, an increasing share of the middle class, decrease in the severity of internal political confrontations and attenuation of inter-country armed conflicts, and the development of digital technologies. Underdevelopment of the middle class, low savings, high criminality, corruption, high levels of debt, lack of capital and skills are problems that hinder the process of industrialization in Africa. The authorities of African countries need to manage the processes of industrialization: to work towards the development of infrastructure, improvement of the investment climate, transparency of legislation, reduction of administrative costs for business, reduction of corruption, prevention of armed conflicts. Regional integration would help to address the common challenges facing Sub-Saharan Africa.