A Review of Recurrent Themes of the Asian Miracle- Any Lessons for Sub-Saharan Africa?

Abstract

There are three recurrent themes in the East Asian catch-up industrialization model that could to serve as policy lessons for Sub-Saharan Africa. Agricultural productivity growth cum industrial booms were complementary factors in _East Asians industrial revolutions; Labour-intensive - low-skill manufacturing provided the viable dynamic 'entry route' to exportbased industrialization; and Industrial policy served as an elixir/or rapid capital accumulation. Central to all these, is the emergence of a developmentoriented social class structure that motivated entrepreneurs in the region to reinvest government-provided rents in capital accumulation processes. The policy lesson,. therefore, is that for any programme of industrialization in Sub-Saharan Africa to be successful, it should have as its counterpart measures to guarantee adequate supply of agricultural goods. It is the rate at which the domestic agricultural sector can supply the industrial labourforce with low-cost wage goods which sets the limit to the internal expansion of the industrial sector. Nonetheless, the critical question is: are. lessons (recurrent themes) from East Asia transferable to Africa? The answer is somewhat complex because the regions differ on several fronts. Thus a direct replication of the East Asian model is unlikely to succeed, but a careful and sequenced approach similar to the East Asians could propel the dynamics of growth for the region.