‘Accelerated development’ and industrialization in Africa

Past discussions on possibilities of industrialization in Africa have been influenced by attempts to answer two major questions: a) what explains Africa’s economic backwardness and can it be overcome by programmes of industrialization? b) is successful industrialization possible given the political economy of Africa as we know it today? The author attempts to answer these questions in the context of the Report of the World Bank on accelerated development and the Lagos Plan of Action. – Notes.