Theory question 104
Manufacturing Industry(a) Account for the relative low level of industrial development in tropical Africa
(b) State five ways in which the industrial sector has contributed to the economic development of the region
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(a) Shortage of capital; lack of skilled labour and technology; small markets and low incomes; poor infrastructure – power, roads, water; dependence on imported machinery and raw materials; competition from cheap imports; political instability and poor policies; colonial legacy of exporting raw materials
(b) Employment; adds value to local raw materials (cocoa, cotton, groundnut); saves foreign exchange through import substitution and earns it through exports; government revenue; growth of towns and infrastructure; transfer of skills and technology; linkages with agriculture
(a) is about obstacles, (b) about benefits.