Tunisia was in the top six of the main African manufacturing countries by occupying the 4th rank of the Index of Industrialization in Africa (AII), in its first edition, published, on November 24, 2022, by the African Development Bank (AfDB), the African Union and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).
The Africa Industrialization Index (AII) is an AfDB initiative to strengthen data on Africa’s industrial development.
The IIA, which covers 52 of the 54 African countries over the period 2010-2021, reviews the industrial development of each country through three dimensions: the performance of the manufacturing sector, the direct determinants of manufacturing production (capital and labor implementation), as well as indirect determinants or the enabling environment, including macroeconomic stability and the quality of policies and institutions.
According to this report, South Africa, which ranks first in the Index, has maintained a very high ranking throughout the period 2010-2021, closely followed by Morocco, which occupies second place. Egypt, Tunisia, Mauritius and Eswatini complete the top six over the period.
The report also notes that many countries have made significant progress in industrial development during the reporting period (2010-2021). 37 of the 52 African countries have seen their level of industrialization increase over the last eleven years.
The top quintile of the IIA ranking includes South Africa, three North African countries (Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt), as well as Mauritius, Eswatini, Namibia, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea and the Senegal.
North Africa is the best performing sub-region under the IIA. Three of its six countries rank among the top 10 performers on the Index, and its average score is around 0.7.
Morocco, Egypt and Tunisia perform well for each IIA subcomponent. These strong results reflect a long history of national efforts to promote key industries and create strong infrastructure, backed by a strengthening of industrial policy over the past decade, with governments developing new policy tools to support infant industries and reduce import dependency.
Among the major industries in the region are inorganic chemical processing, fertilizer manufacturing, automobile, electrical appliance component industries, as well as the textile industry.
Libya and Algeria still have some way to go to achieve the goal of non-hydrocarbon diversification. The sub-region benefits from its immediate proximity to the European Union, but it would benefit from strengthening connectivity between its member countries and improving North-South corridors with the hinterland and the rest of the African continent.
The report emphasizes that building a productive industry will be integral to Africa’s development, providing a pathway to accelerated structural transformation, large-scale formal job creation and inclusive growth. However, Africa’s share of global manufacturing has declined to the current level of less than 2%.
More proactive industrial policies are considered essential to reverse the trend, but they require in-depth knowledge and a detailed understanding of the constraints and opportunities each country faces.
