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Abstract
The economic situation of sub-Saharan Africa has improved markedly in recent years. Increased stability—macroeconomic and political—and market liberalisation in many countries enhance the opportunities for economic development led by the private sector. Previous examples from, for instance, Mauritius and Tunisia as well as Southeast Asia, point to the potential of manufacturing exports for making sustained growth possible. The advantages of manufacturing exports include spillover effects, such as competitive pressure, economies of scale and technology transfer. Several studies provide empirical and theoretical indications that manufacturing exports have a beneficial impact on total factor productivity; a few of them include Edwards (1997), de Melo and Robinson (1990), Biggs, Shah and Srivastava (1995), Tybout (1992), Bigsten et al. (1997) and Lucas (1993).
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