Overview and Insights

Abstract

There is increasing recognition that the market imperfections on which theoretical arguments for industrial policies rest are widespread in low-income countries, and that well-designed government policies can contribute to improved economic outcomes. There is also greater understanding that the private sector has a central role to play in formulating and implementing industrial policy. Because much of the information relevant to policy-making is held by firms, some form of structured engagement—often referred to as close or strategic coordination—between the public and private sectors is needed, both to assist in the design of appropriate public actions and to provide effective feedback on their implementation. This introductory chapter provides an overview of common themes and outlines a set of forward-looking ideas for strengthening public–private coordination in Africa. It argues that these ideas must form part of any development agenda for Africa in the years to come.

Industries without Smokestacks

“…This allows, for example, a flight to originate out of Addis Ababa, land in Nairobi, Kenya to drop off and pick up passengers, continue on to Kilimanjaro in Tanzania to drop off passengers destined there, move on to Dar es Salaam, drop off passengers there from both Addis Ababa and Nairobi, and pick up passengers for the last leg back to Addis Ababa. 11 The success in the implementation can be measured in the number of international airport connections served by multi-stop flights in Africa. Sub-Saharan services have thrived, and multi-legged connections have increased significantly.…”

“…This should not imply that individual ownership prevents a firm from being managed professionally. The survey depicts an industry in which the top management is highly qualified, 11 the fleet is carefully managed and maintained, employees are paid comparatively well, and modern operational techniques are used.…”

“…Global evidence suggests that on average in developing countries, each hotel room creates one hotel job, one more job in the rest of the tourist industry, and one job through indirect linkages. 11 With 10,000 hotel rooms, this implies roughly 30,000 jobs, of which 90 per cent can probably be attributed to foreign visitors. 12 This contribution is noteworthy given that much of this employment is located outside of Dakar, where alternatives are limited.…”

“…In this chapter, quality of access is measured by data transmission speeds. 11 While average speeds have increased, the relative gap between the more advanced and other economies seems to have widened in recent years, most likely due to the fact that speed suffered as coverage increased: most providers announce maximum speeds but traffic moves at far lower average speeds. Although coverage, driven by the dissemination of mobile devices, initially outpaced the ability of telecoms and providers to offer high-quality access, they seem to be catching up.…”

“…A combination of government ability and commitment to attract infrastructure investment (such as the East African Submarine Cable System sponsored by the World Bank and the Development Bank of Southern Africa, and the East Africa Marine System, the responsibility of the Kenyan government, with collaboration from Etisalat Emirates Telecommunications Corporation) and to open up to a variety of service providers (as well as device suppliers) has been instrumental in making Kenya a standout in Africa, with the highest bandwidth per person in Africa, the fastest speeds, and one of the lowest costs for use of the internet. 11 See Frischtak (2017: Figures 8 and 9).…”