The Quest for Industrialization

About the BookQuest for Industrialization is the selected works of Professor Banji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka, a sweeping intellectual journey through decades of development economics research, policy engagement, and original scholarship on Africa's path from commodity dependence to productive transformation.Across this body of work, Oyelaran-Oyeyinka interrogates the defining question of our time: why have African nations, Nigeria in particular, failed to industrialize while their Asian counterparts made dramatic leaps in manufacturing capability, per capita income, and economic complexity? Drawing on historical evidence, structural economic theory, and lived experience at the highest levels of global policy, he traces how resource dependence, weak institutional capacity, and a failure of leadership conspired to trap Nigeria and much of Africa in what he calls a Consumption Nation, importing what it should produce, exporting what it should transform.From the lessons of the Industrial Revolution to the geopolitics of COVID-19 vaccine nationalism, from Asia's deliberate technology acquisition strategies to Africa's premature deindustrialization, this collection makes the case that underdevelopment is not destiny, it is reversible. And the reversal begins with industrialization.What Readers Are Saying"A narrative spanning several decades of developmental history, well-researched, forcefully argued, and backed by experiential knowledge." — Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria"Seldom so coherently, convincingly, and urgently argued... a magisterial study of the great divergence between Nigeria and the Asian economies." — Richard Joseph, Nonresident Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution; John Evans Professor, Northwestern University"Proposes a more explicit pathway to prosperity in Africa than any other book or scholarly journal article I have ever read." — Adesoji Adelaja, John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor in Land Policy, Michigan State University"A seminal, path-breaking analysis, a must read for African policymakers, students of development economics, and international bodies supporting Africa's transformation." — Professor Faizel Ismail, Director, Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance, University of Cape Town"Shows underdevelopment not as destiny but as reversible. Connects leadership vision and industrialization, correctly so." — Prof. Padmashree Gehl Sampath, CEO, African Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation; Former Director, Global Access in Action, Harvard UniversityAbout the AuthorProfessor Banji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka is a Development Economist and global thought leader. He serves as Senior Special Adviser on Industrialisation to the President of the African Development Bank and on the Advisory Council on Industrialisation for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). A recipient of Nigeria's National Productivity Order of Merit Award, he spent 20 years in senior United Nations roles, including Director at UN-HABITAT and Senior Economic Adviser at UNCTAD. The first Nigerian professor in Development Economics and Industrial Policy, he has authored over twenty books. He holds a BSc in Chemical Engineering (First Class) from Obafemi Awolowo University, an MSc from the University of Toronto, and a DPhil from the University of Sussex. He is a Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Engineering and the Nigerian Academy of Chemical Engineering. Read more