africa

16. Global Value Chains and
“Servicification” in Africa
Olivier Cattaneo*
Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, Yale University
16.1 Introduction
The prospects of Africa are too often observed through the lens of old policy paradigms
that do not match the reality of the modern economy.
For instance, many observers still make reference to Asia as a model for growth
and development in Africa and elsewhere, though industrialization is on the decline
in many countries of the world and might not be the best way forward for Africa.
With the globalization of the economy, developing fully integrated industries that
are competitive has become a largely illusory goal in Africa and elsewhere. The
more practical objectives are now about joining and moving up value chains, which
often require a country to have a sound business environment, i.e. to provide costefficient
and quality services.
What are the other options and economic development paths? After a few decades
of neglect, agriculture has returned to the front of the scene. Indeed, it is essential
to Africa, where 70 percent of the poor still live in rural areas. The World Bank has
suggested that growth in agriculture could be two to four times more effective at
reducing poverty than growth in other sectors (World Bank, 2008). The face of
agriculture has changed, however, with the increasing globalization of processing
* This paper draws extensively from previous work on global value chains done with Gary Gereffi,
Sébastien Miroudot, Ben Shepherd, and Daria Taglioni, and on the role of foreign direct investment in
development in Africa done with Jean-Christophe Maur and Akiko Suwa.
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