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Abstract: This paper is designed to review opportunities, constraints and contributions of industrial
development on economic growth in Ethiopia. Sources such as scholarly publication, News and magazines,
Books and chapters, Conference proceedings, government documents, theses and Dissertations have been
reviewed. The review result indicates that industrial sector have substantial contribution to economic growth that
helps to create a large portion of the resources needed to fund social development programs in the country. In
addition, creation of employment and hence generation of income take place in the sector directly and are
indirectly fostered in other sectors like agriculture or services through their linkages to industry. However,
financial constraints, shortage of raw materials supply and lack of skilled manpower were identified as the main
obstacles to the development of the sector. Finally the review argues that high rate of capital accumulation is a
necessary condition for bringing about structural transformation and increased level of production and
productivity to give rise for industrialization and the use of appropriate combination of skilled manpower,
modern and suitable technologies and investment on both public infrastructures and manufacturing activities
should be made.
CITATION: Alemayehu Oljira and Fenet Belay. (2019). Review on Opportunities and Constraints of Industrial Development
on Economic Growth in Ethiopia. Agricultural Socio-Economics Journal, 19(2), 83-90.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21776/ub.agrise.2019.019.2.3
84 Alemayehu Oljira and Fenet Belay
60,000 people and dominated by import reversing the command economy Implemented
substituting light industries and foreign ownership three phases of IMF/WB sponsored reform
(Shiferaw, J. 1995). programs. In 1998 government adopted Export
The Derge regime (1974 to 1991) No specific Promotion Strategy A full-fledged Industrial
industrial policy per se until mid-1980s, but – Development Strategy (IDS) was formulated in
nationalized most of the MLSM enterprises – 2002/03 – Concretized into action by various sub-
declared “a socialist economic policy’ – put sector strategies and by the successive development
various restrictions on the private sector & market plans such as; Sustainable Development and
– Nationalized enterprises SOEs reorganized under Poverty Reduction Program (SDPRP) 2002/03-
state corporations. The manufacturing sector 2004/05 and the Plan of Action for Sustainable
shrunk and the private sector virtually reduced into Development and Eradication of Poverty
micro & small manufacturing activity. The (PASDEP) 2005/06-2009/10 (Szirmai, A. 2009).
EPRDF-led government (since 1991) the first
decade (1991-99) marked by various reforms
Public /Private role Private led State led Private led but also strong
state
Ownership structure Dominance of foreign Dominance of public owned Dominance of domestic
owned enterprises enterprises private owned enterprises
Import substituting and Import substituting and Export oriented and labor
Target industries labor intensive industries labor intensive industries but intensive industries
also basic industries
Envisaged key player Foreign investment Public sector investment Domestic private sector
Protection of domestic Protection of domestic Direct support for selected
market through high tariff market through high tariff export sectors through
and banning of certain and quantitative restrictions, capacity building and other
imports. financing, subsidizing, means. Provision of
Policy instruments Provision of economic ensuring monopoly, power economic incentives and
incentives and of the SOECs preferential credit scheme
preferential credit scheme
Source: (Mulu, 2013)
The Contributions of the industrial sector much output per hour, week and so on, results from
In creating job opportunities, urban development, labor-input. Infarct, output per worker per time as a
closer support to the agricultural development, and direct measure of labor productivity. Labor
conducive environment for new investors are the productivity depends upon a number of factors
central core of economic growth of any nation. including the population size (quantity) and degree
Those are influenced by the growth rate of the of education and skills (quality) of labor supply, the
industrial sector specially manufacturing industries. capital stock other resources; each laborer has to
The major components of this activity involve work with and the technology available for
labor productivity, capital formation, improvements production. Educational development and on the-
in technology and the market environment job-training of laborers, growth in human capital is
(UNIDO, 2009). a rather obvious requirement for the productivity
increases, but productivity increases are also
Labor productivity: - output per worker. Labor closely linked to capital formation and technology
productivity in economic growth refers to how (UNIDO, 2009).
Capital formation: the promise to invest capital on productivity of labor standard of living for the
the activity, as initial stage is the accumulation of greatest number of people in the recorded history of
money either through savings domestically or humanity. Such living standards could be
borrowing from financial institution. Capital unthinkable without the invention of items such as
formation is one of the ingredients of growth in steam engine, assembly – line production and etc.
size and quality of capital –stock-the quantity of Technology and invention have been responsible
fixed assets consisting of buildings, machineries, for nothing less than the modern world. The
inventories and equipment use in production. Labor market environment: most western economists
productivity is enhanced when capital stock believe that the market environment surrounding
available to labor growth faster than the labor the growth in natural resources, labor productivity,
supply. This capital is said to be deepening capital. capital formation and so on, are a large contributing
Increases in capital- stocks are costly. Resources factors to economic growth. A competitive market
including time must be scarified to produce capital system may believe encourage invention and rapid
goods that are not directly consumable, so capital innovation. All private and public restraints 0on
growth requires selling or abstention from current competition, including excessive or unnecessary
consumption. For new investment on machineries, regulation or tariffs or quotas on goods exchanged
buildings and equipment to grow, society ability in an international and trade, will trend to reduce
have knowledge to make savings. The reword for the rate of growth in real per capital GNP (UNIDO,
selling is greater future development in either 2009).
consumable goods or in more capital goods. In the
later sense economic growth is cumulative if feeds Exports: While on the face of it, manufactured
on itself by using capital to produce more capital exports appear to have registered impressive
(UNIDO, 2009). growth in the past few years, a closer look at the
structure of exports reveals that leather and leather
Improvements in technology: technological products, food and textiles in that order constituted
growth and invention, improvements in methods by the bulk of industrial exports. Manufactured
which goods and services are produced and sold is exports are thus limited to agricultural based
another key to economic growth. The industrial products. Export earnings generated by the sector
revolution of the 17th c- 19th c in western countries have been able to meet only about half the sector's
ushered in the age of mechanization, increasing the foreign exchange requirements (Dinh, et al., 2012).
Figure 2. GDP growth, Industry and manufacturing value added (Ethiopia, 1982-2010)
Source: (Mulu, 2013)
Opportunity and constraint of industrial sector physical infrastructure and human development and
Opportunity the achievement of MDGs have set the springboard
The rapid and sustained double digit economic for the implementation of GTP II. Furthermore, the
growth (10.9 % per annum) registered during the Government’s firm commitment and
last 12 years, investment expansion undertaken in transformational leadership with remarkable
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