African Population Growth, Jobs, Industrialization, Agriculture, and China

World Politics Review published on 6 November 2019 a commentary titled "Why Africa's Future Will Determine the Rest of the World's" by Howard W. French.

The author focuses on Africa's rapid population growth and the urgent need for additional employment. He argues, correctly in my view, that in most African countries the future lies with improved agriculture rather than industrialization. He also cites the myth that China is in the process of industrializing Africa. In fact, China is mostly an obstacle to African industrialization because it industrialized decades ago and now dominates with overwhelming advantages of scale most of the industrial sectors that countries in Africa seek to enter.