Leapfrogging : The Key to Africa's Development?

World Bank Group ; China Development Bank

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: DEVELOPMENT;    INNOVATION;    TECHNOLOGY;    AGRICULTURE;    EDUCATION;   

RP-ID  :  119849

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Despite sustained economic growth overthe past two decades, Sub-Saharan Africa faces massivechallenges and significant gaps in many developmentoutcomes. Although poverty has been declining, a recentreport estimates that over two-fifths of the Africanpopulation was poor in 2012. Nearly two-thirds of Africansdo not have electricity. Less than one quarter of Africanenterprises have loans or lines of credit; the correspondingshare among firms in non-African developing countries isalmost half. The use of formal financial services isconcentrated among the richest 20 percent of the population.Most African countries have made significant gains in accessto education, but learning remains weak. The agriculturesector, which employs a large share of the labor force,exhibits low productivity. Technological change and levels,which are the drivers of productivity, are much lowercompared to other parts of the world. Even simpleproductivity-enhancing factors like the use of fertilizershas remained flat for decades. Africa’s largeinfrastructure, technology, and policy gaps requiredisruptive solutions and thinking outside of the box. Yet,development policies have often been primarily programmaticand mostly incremental. This book argues that it is time togo back to basics of development, think big, and foster theenvironment for more innovation and technology adoption, toprovide the chance for Africa to experience major positivetransformations. This is not a new idea; to the contrary, itis what economic theory and history teach. While it hasbecome customary in the development practice to highlightand quantify constraints to investing in Africa, this bookargues that those constraints must be and transformed intoinvestment opportunities. Several factors, such as skills,service delivery, access to finance, energy, to name thefew, are often pointed out as constraints to investment.Treating those constraints as investment opportunities,attracting the private sector, both domestic and foreign,and creating a conducive environment for technologicaldiffusion is precisely how Africa will harness innovationtoward its prosperity.