Capturing the Gains in Africa: Making the most of global value chain participation
Abstract
Prepared for the OECD, this report aims to provide insights for policy makers into how African countries can make the most of globalisation for inclusive development, examining the risks and opportunities of global value chain participation in Africa.
Of the four industry sectors covered in CTG, this paper focuses on only three: apparel, horticulture, and tourism. Overall, CTG research suggests that upgrading and sharing the gains from participation in GVCs were limited in Africa. Economic upgrading was uneven between the horticulture, apparel and tourism sectors, and social upgrading even more so. CTG sectoral analysis found that economic, and especially social, downgrading were more common than previous research would lead one to expect. In the case of apparel, the cross-national sectoral data reflect both economic and social downgrading for all included African countries.
Based on the findings of the Capturing the Gains project, it is argued that, in the African context, GVC participation in itself is not enough to ensure that small producers and vulnerable workers will be better off. Therefore, multi-faceted and strategic policy approaches (private and public) are necessary to successfully promote more inclusive growth and contribute to poverty reduction.
Citation
Goger, A.; Hull, A.; Barrientos, S.; Gereffi, G.; Godfrey, S. Capturing the Gains in Africa: Making the most of global value chain participation. Center on Globalization, Governance and Competitiveness, Duke University, USA (2014) 45 pp.
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