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The changing structure of Africa's economies

Author

Listed:
  • Diao,Xinshen
  • Harttgen,Kenneth
  • Mcmillan,Margaret S.

Abstract

Data from the Groningen Growth and Development Center's Africa Sector Database and the Demographic and Health Surveys reveals that much of Africa's recent growth and poverty reduction has been associated with a substantive decline in the share of the labor force engaged in agriculture. This decline is most pronounced for rural females over the age of 25 who have a primary education; it has been accompanied by a systematic increase in the productivity of the labor force, as it has moved from low productivity agriculture to higher productivity services and manufacturing. Although the employment share in manufacturing is not expanding rapidly, in most of the low-income African countries the employment share in manufacturing has not peaked and is still expanding, albeit from very low levels. More work is needed to understand the implications of these shifts in employment shares for future growth and development in Africa south of the Sahara.

Suggested Citation

  • Diao,Xinshen & Harttgen,Kenneth & Mcmillan,Margaret S., 2017. "The changing structure of Africa's economies," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7958, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7958
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    Cited by:

    1. Zhang Pengquan & Doris Padmini Selvaratnam, 2025. "Perception of Chinese Respondents Towards the Impact of China’s High-Speed Rail Development on International Economy," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 9(2), pages 4537-4556, February.
    2. Mensah, Emmanuel B., 2020. "Is sub-Saharan Africa deindustrializing?," MERIT Working Papers 2020-045, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    3. Hashad, Reem & Lim, Sunghun & Abay, Kibrom A., 2024. "Global food value chains and obesity in low- and middle-income countries," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    4. Hamilton, Calumn & de Vries, Gaaitzen J., 2025. "The structural transformation of transition economies," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    5. Caldarola, Bernardo & Grazzi, Marco & Occelli, Martina & Sanfilippo, Marco, 2023. "Mobile internet, skills and structural transformation in Rwanda," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(10).
    6. Oriana Bandiera & Ahmed Elsayed & Andrea Smurra & Céline Zipfel, 2022. "Young Adults and Labor Markets in Africa," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 36(1), pages 81-100, Winter.
    7. Ecker, Olivier, 2018. "Agricultural transformation and food and nutrition security in Ghana: Does farm production diversity (still) matter for household dietary diversity?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 271-282.
    8. Hagen Kruse & Emmanuel Mensah & Kunal Sen & Gaaitzen Vries, 2023. "A Manufacturing (Re)Naissance? Industrialization in the Developing World," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 71(2), pages 439-473, June.
    9. Büttner, Nicolas & Grimm, Michael & Günther, Isabel & Harttgen, Kenneth & Klasen, Stephan, 2022. "The fertility transition in Sub-Saharan Africa: The role of structural change," Passauer Diskussionspapiere, Volkswirtschaftliche Reihe V-90-22, University of Passau, Faculty of Business and Economics.
    10. Liu, Yanyan & Barrett, Christopher B. & Pham, Trinh & Violette, William, 2020. "The intertemporal evolution of agriculture and labor over a rapid structural transformation: Lessons from Vietnam," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    11. Atolia, Manoj & Loungani, Prakash & Marquis, Milton & Papageorgiou, Chris, 2020. "Rethinking development policy: What remains of structural transformation?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    12. Mensah, Emmanuel & Owusu, Solomon & Foster-McGregor, Neil & Szirmai, Adam, 2018. "Structural change, productivity growth and labour market turbulence in Africa," MERIT Working Papers 2018-025, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    13. Haroon Bhorat & Christopher Rooney & François Steenkamp, 2019. "Building Economic Complexity in Africa," Working Papers 201906, University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit.
    14. Rekha Ravindran & Suresh Babu Manalaya, 2023. "Does Premature Deindustrialisation Stall Growth? Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 23(1), pages 65-81, January.
    15. Azenui, Ngwinui Belinda & Rada, Codrina, 2021. "Labor productivity growth in sub-Sahara African LDCs: sectoral contributions and macroeconomic factors," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 10-26.
    16. Hoekman, Bernard & Sanfilippo, Marco & Tambussi, Margherita, 2023. "Foreign Direct Investment and Structural Transformation in Africa," CEPR Discussion Papers 17838, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    17. Grabrucker, Katharina & Grimm, Michael, 2018. "Does crime deter South Africans from self-employment?," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 413-435.
    18. Nguimkeu, Pierre & Zeufack, Albert, 2024. "Manufacturing in structural change in Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    19. Lautier, Marc, 2024. "Manufacturing still matters for developing countries," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 168-177.
    20. Owusu, Solomon & Szirmai, Adam & Foster-McGregor, Neil, 2020. "The rise of the service sector in the global economy," MERIT Working Papers 2020-056, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    21. Senadza Bernardin & Nketiah-Amponsah Edward & Ampaw Samuel, 2018. "Nonfarm diversification and the well-being of rural farm households in developing countries: Evidence from Ghana using new dataset," Review of Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 69(3), pages 207-229, December.
    22. Mensah, Emmanuel B. & Owusu, Solomon & Foster-McGregor, Neil, 2023. "Productive efficiency, structural change, and catch-up within Africa," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 78-100.
    23. Solomon Owusu, 2025. "Global value chains and aggregate productivity growth in developing countries: the role of intra-sectoral allocation and structural change," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 161(1), pages 89-119, February.
    24. Ecker, O., 2018. "Agricultural Transformation and Food and Nutrition Security: Does Farm Production Diversity (Still) Matter for Dietary Diversity among Ghanaian Farm Households?," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 276999, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    25. Mulubrhan Amare & Priyanka Parvathi & Trung Thanh Nguyen, 2023. "Micro insights on the pathways to agricultural transformation: Comparative evidence from Southeast Asia and Sub‐Saharan Africa," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 71(1), pages 69-87, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O4 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity
    • O55 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Africa

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