Is Africa asking the wrong question? Whenever a new industrial park is launched, a railway completed, or a foreign manufacturer announces a billion-dollar investment, the headlines almost write themselves. Jobs created. Investment attracted. Growth unlocked. But beneath the celebration lies a more uncomfortable question that rarely receives the same attention:
Who is actually becoming more productive?
Because economic activity is not the same as economic transformation. A country can build factories without building manufacturers. It can host industries without owning industrial capability. It can even post impressive GDP growth while remaining trapped at the bottom of global value chains.
This is where China's story matters, not because Africa should become another China, but because China understood something many developing economies still struggle with. Development was never simply about making the economy bigger. It was about changing what the economy was capable of producing.
Originally published by African Business.