Industry: Its Basis in Africa

Abstract

A very large proportion of the population of Africa (c.70%) still owes its living to agriculture. The irony of this situation is that agriculture offers very little prospects for economic development. Any new agricultural revolution is seriously hindered by the great pressure on the land. This state of affairs has led many leading economists and geographers to think that industrialization is the only panacea to the problem of under-development in Africa. It is with this in mind that the basis for industry in Africa will be surveyed. Industry is normally divided into two - Primary, mainly extractive in nature and Secondary, mainly manufacturing. The extractive industry refers mostly to the removal of mineral ores from the ground and the exploitation of the continent's "natural" forests. Manufacturing is defined as the process by which a raw material is partly, or completely altered to give a different end product. One essential feature of the manufacturing industry is that value is added to the product which undergoes alteration.