This research was aimed at feeding into the quest for ways that would help advance Africa's effort to industrialize its economy. Empirical evidence suggests transforming the agro-industry and inserting MSEs into value chains is the most feasible strategy. Inspired by arguments against global value chains (GVCs) orientation of Africa's industrialization strategies, this research investigated the link between local production and technological capability in Africa using indicators from various international databases and crosscountry quantitative analyses. The research also undertook an indepth qualitative investigation on Ethiopia's edible oil industry as an important case capable of shedding some light on problems linked to Africa's agro-processing with a special focus on local production system and technological capability. The finding revealed strong positive linkages between local value chains and technological/ innovation capabilities in Africa. Structural constraints, underdeveloped supply chains, and poor implementation and coordination of policies have limited Africa's capability to harness potentials inherent in the agro-processing sector.

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