Developing Export-Based Manufacturing in Sub-Saharan Africa
African countries are increasingly exporting manufactures (34% of the total) to each other and other developing regions (see Figure 2). Between 2005 and 2014, the share of intra-African manufacturing exports in the total value of African manufacturing exports increased by nearly 15 percentage points to reach 34%. (…) Exports of road vehicles, iron and steel, essential oils for perfume materials and cleaning preparations, non-metallic mineral manufactures and manufactures of metal made the largest contributions to intra-Africa manufacturing exports. The technology intensity of African manufacturing exports is gradually increasing, with some growth in the relative share of exports of medium-technology (automotive, process and engineering) and high-technology manufactures (electronic and electrical and other). But exports of resource-based and low-technology manufactures still dominate.
The total value (in $ million) of manufacturing exports in 2005 and 2014 differs markedly in nine countries of interest, in part reflecting the relative sizes of the various economies*. When measured in average annual terms, growth in manufacturing exports to the world was fastest over 2005- 2014 in Rwanda, followed by Nigeria (2006-2014), Tanzania and Ethiopia. Mozambique and Zambia also expanded their total manufacturing exports significantly. With the exception of Nigeria, however, growth in these countries occurred off comparatively small bases in 2005.
Between 2005 and 2014, the shares of intra-African manufacturing exports increased markedly in relative terms in Ethiopia, Ghana (2005-2013), Rwanda and Zambia. In six of the nine countries (Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia), intra-African manufacturing exports accounted for more than 70% of total exports (and as high as 82% in Zambia) in 2014 (2013 for Ghana). There are also shifting patterns in manufacturing exports to other major destination regions. For the bulk of the countries (Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda), Asia has become an increasingly important destination – in relative terms – for manufacturing exports, whereas there has been a relative decline in the share of manufacturing exports destined for Europe and the Americas. Even so, in value terms, Europe remains an important export destination for manufactures produced in these countries.