How and why firms in low-income countries seek to build capabilities in new export industries?
by Ayelech T. Melese and Lindsay Whitfield Industrialization is the main driver of higher per capita incomes and a rising standard of living in low-income countries. Industrialization may be catalyzed by foreign direct investment. However, it is sustained by national firms becoming internationally competitive in range of industries, which should increase in technological complexity as…
Can African countries build competitive fiber-to-garment industries fit for the 21st century?
by Lindsay Whitfield The textile and apparel industry is a globalised industry characterised by a high degree of dependency and fragmentation in global supply chains. From the mid-20th century, cotton textile and apparel manufacturing production relocated from industrialised to developing countries, particularly in Asia, and was quickly followed by the emergence of the petrochemical industry and…
Industrializing through global value chains? The case of the South African automotive industry
When trying to come up with lessons for developing countries that want to industrialize today, people usually refer back to the success of East Asia. But 40 years have passed since South Korea and Taiwan industrialized through exporting and import substitution.
Ethiopia’s apparel export industry, the Tigray conflict, and US preferential market access
The federal Ethiopian government announced a nationwide state of emergency on November 2, as the now one-year-long conflict between the federal government defence forces (and regional militias) and forces led by the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) threatened to spread from the Tigray region across the country, including the capital city Addis Ababa.