Beyond the Impasse of African Industrial Development: The Case of Botswana, Tanzania and Zambia

The thrust of this article is to examine critically the importance, performance and under-weighting of the industrial sector in Africa focusing on three countries, Botswana, Tanzania and Zambia, in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. The article shows that both theoretical and empirical evidence indicates somewhat unsatisfactory industrial performance. The article attempts to explain the way forward (beyond the impasse), by providing alternative approaches, opportunities and recommendations.