New Technologies Create Opportunities
Manufacturing sector growth is a well-trodden path from lower- to middle-income country status, yet its performance in sub-Saharan Africa has been weak. Scholars have opined that a weak comparative advantage in manufacturing is likely to stunt Africa’s development, and others that Industry 4.0 will deepen that disadvantage further. This chapter discusses how new technologies can be positively disruptive—to overcome drivers of weak comparative advantage in manufacturing, create new opportunities in ‘industries without smokestacks’ such as service exports, and raise living standards at given income levels. Technology can help to bring down the costs of living to make wages competitive, bridge and overcome gaps in human capital, make energy prices competitive, and overcome distances between producers and consumers. However, new technologies will not deliver these gains unaided: supportive policies are required to create an environment where these new technologies can deliver on their potential, and these are also discussed.