Economic transformation in Africa

One of the earliest and most central insights from the literature on economic development is that development entails structural change. The countries that manage to pull out of poverty and get richer are those that are able to diversify away from agriculture and other traditional products. As labor and other resources move from agriculture into modern economic activities, overall productivity rises and incomes expand. The speed with which this transformation takes place is one of the key factors that differentiate successful countries from unsuccessful ones.