The Technological Response to Import Liberalization in SubSaharan Africa

Many African countries liberalized in the belief that international competition would stimulate efficiency, growth and technological dynamism. The results are mixed, but largely disappointing. This book examines why, looking at technological reactions to liberalization in garments and engineering in Tanzania, Kenya and Zimbabwe, countries with different levels of industrialisation and differing degrees of liberalization. Its findings, aimed at practitioners and researchers, explain why the assumptions underlying liberalisation are often flawed, why capabilities differ, and why they lag behind other regions.