Arkebe Oqubay, Minister and Special Advisor to the Ethiopian Prime Minister

Dr Arkebe Oqubay is a minister and special advisor to the Ethiopian prime minister and has been at the centre of policymaking for 25 years. He is the former mayor of Addis Ababa and serves as board chair of leading public organizations. He holds a PhD in development studies from SOAS, University of London, and is research associate at the Centre of African Studies in the University of London. Dr Oqubay has been a member of the core leadership of TPLF and EPRDF, the movement that spearheaded the seventeen-year popular liberation struggle that ended the Derg military dictatorship.

Made in Africa presents the findings of original field research into the design, practice, and varied outcomes of industrial policy in the cement, leather and leather products, and floriculture sectors in Ethiopia. It explores how and why the outcomes of industrial policy are shaped by particular factors in these industries. It also examines industrial structures and associated global value chains to demonstrate the challenges faced by African firms in international markets. The findings are discussed against the backdrop of 'industrial policy', which has recently found renewed favour among economists and international organizations, and of the history of thought about and practice in industrialization.

The book seeks to learn from the failures and successes in the three sectors, all of them functioning under the umbrella of a single industrial strategy. It argues that an effective industrial policy requires a more interventionist state than most development economists would accept, including those recently claiming to champion a 'new industrial policy'. Moreover, it argues that success lies in the interactions among policy, specific industrial structures, and institutions. Specifically, a successful policy, he posits should maximize linkage effects, but will founder in the absence of a clear understanding of the political economy of each sector.