Africa’s Industrialization Debate: A Critical Analysis

In the article, the author examines the debates that have permeated Africa's quest to catch-up with the more developed countries of the North. It is noteworthy that since independence, Africa's industrialization process seemed to be a state-centric affair. In other words, the state has been the central player in Africa's industrialization process. At independence, of course, many factors favored or called for state dominance as well as state-driven industrialization process. Yet a bad political culture, weak political and social institutions, poor leadership and bad governance seem to have contributed to this failure from within. However, the fact still remains that at the beginning of the 21 st century, African countries do hold a lot of potential in terms of human and material resources that would enable them compete favorably with the more industrialized countries of Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific. Key words: Industrialization, Africa, politics, underdevelopment