Light Manufacturing in Zambia: Job Creation and Prosperity in a Resource-Based Economy (Directions in Development - Private Sector Development)

Description

While Zambia’s recent growth has been impressive, it has not been accompanied with adequate job creation.
To be sustainable and to create productive employment for its people, growth needs to be accompanied by
structural transformation. Such transformation entails a growing share of manufacturing output in the
economy. Light Manufacturing in Zambia shows that Zambia has the potential to become regionally
competitive in several light manufacturing subsectors by leveraging its comparative advantage in natural
resource industries such as agriculture, livestock, and forestry.

Light Manufacturing in Zambia has several innovative features. First, it provides in-depth cost comparisons
between Zambia and four other countries in Asia and Africa at sector and product levels. Second, the book
uses a wide array of quantitative and qualitative techniques to identify key constraints to enterprises and to
evaluate differences in the performance of firms across countries. Third, it uses a focused approach to identify
country- and industry- specific constraints. Fourth, it highlights the interconnectedness of constraints and
solutions. For example, solving the manufacturing input problem requires actions in agriculture, education,
and infrastructure.

This book suggests directing government policies toward removing constraints in a few of the most
promising light manufacturing sectors using practical and innovative solutions inspired by the fast-growing
Asian economies whose starting point 20 years ago was not very different from Zambia’s today. Growing
production of light manufacturing goods would allow Zambia to capture more value from its raw materials
and create more jobs.