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This article conveys the critical elements of the keynote address delivered by the author at the opening session of the Third African Conference on Debt and Development in Dakar, Senegal. It attempts to answer the question of African Debt sustainability through the lenses of dependency and underdevelopment theories based on the Centre-Periphery theory and hypothesis that unless Africa exits the dependency and underdevelopment mode in which it has been trapped since colonialism, it will remain in perpetual debt crises. Thus, delinking from institutions and processes that trap Africa in this mode is inevitable for debt sustainability and long-term broad-based development in Africa. The responsibility for generating countervailing power for transformation lies totally in the hands of Africans as our historical experience to date must suggest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article conveys the critical elements of the keynote address delivered by the author at the opening session of the Second African Conference on Debt and Development (Lilongwe, Malawi). It presents four propositions to analyze and tackle the political economy of African external debt in the context of the socio-economic transformation of the continent. It claims that confronting, dismantling and reframing such political economies offer a level of difficulty that perhaps exceeds the challenges faced with respect to the attainment of political independence. The significant role of a collective African leadership in championing the evolution of an African financial architecture is emphasized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015 has refocused global attention on the centrality of sustainability to the development discourse. Meanwhile, African countries are prioritizing structural transformation in their national and continental development programmes to promote employment through commodity-based industrialization. How will efforts to promote economic, social and environmental sustainability influence Africa's agenda for structural transformation? Using panel data for of 29 African countries for the period 1995-2011, this article empirically analyzes the impact of economic, social and environmental sustainability on structural transformation in Africa. Our findings indicate that structural transformation is optimized when policy interventions adopt an integrated approach to sustainable development that takes into account all of its dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article contends that industrialization and its associated structural transformation is an engine of economic growth and a major source of employment generation. By reallocating resources to more productive manufacturing activities, industrialization accelerates and sustains economies' rate of growth. By increasing the demand for labour, economic growth in turn generates employment. Manufacturing employment has been growing since 1970 and by 2017 the world should have around 500 million manufacturing jobs, most of them created in the developing world. The observed reduction in manufacturing employment and growth in developed countries is seen as the result from them losing manufacturing and industrial innovation capabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses how active industrial policy and south-south coordination mechanisms can facilitate the strategic insertion of developing economies in the global markets and production networks. It proposes an integrated approach to trade, investment and industrial challenges and stresses the importance of political leadership and effective governance structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article features the analysis and comparative assessment of a set of studies on the dynamics and drivers of and policy responses to inequalities in the context of structural transformation in Africa, including an overview paper, seven country studies, and a paper on gendered assets inequalities, all published in abridged versions in Development 57(3-4) (Armah et al., 2014; Ariyo and Olaniyan, 2014; Bunwaree, 2014; Diene, 2014; Kedir, 2014; Omilola and Akanbi, 2014; Osei-Assibey, 2014; Owiti, 2014; Wanjala, 2014). Drawing from these studies, it explores the conceptual frameworks, the key domains and the main drivers of inequalities. It further examines recent policy interventions and outlines policy implications, providing a preliminary basis for setting an agenda for research and advocacy to support African and country efforts to tackle the deepening inequalities and achieve structural transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uncertainties around whether and how the 2030 Agenda will be taken up and implemented in different countries suggest caution in considering what contribution it may give to a kind of 'rural transformation' that can empower rural people not just to avoid being 'left behind' by the development process, but also to help drive sustainable development. Still, the agenda does appear to offer some important opportunities to this effect. These are related, in particular, to the move beyond the MDG agenda that the sustainable development goals signify, particularly with the ambition to 'leave no one behind' and to achieve 100 percent and zero targets, the removal of some long-standing obstacles to inclusive and sustainable rural development at the international level, and the setting in motion of new, inclusive political processes around the role of 'the rural' in sustainable development broadly understood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are about 475 million farms in the developing world. They produce food, contribute towards the sustainable use of natural resources, and at the same time, can boost rural economies. This article examines different dimensions of smallholders' activities and the constraints they face, and discusses the evolution of small farms within the bigger picture of structural transformation and economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]