Infrastructure: The building block for exports in Sub -Saharan Africa?

This research addresses exports as one of the possible vehicles for development for the countries in Africa. It studies to what degree the development of different types of infrastructure can increase the value of exports in Sub-Saharan Africa. The historical economic development of the continent illustrates the important role that infrastructure played for the development of exports throughout colonialism as well as the obstacle that underdeveloped infrastructure posed after independence. Therefore, I argue that in modern Africa, a solid infrastructure can be one of the preconditions for an increase in export of goods. This research is unique in a number of different respects. It expands upon the existing literature and studies the impact of different types of infrastructure on the exports of four individual industries within Africa. The first part of the research uses an export function to examine the effect of infrastructure on exports. A random parameters model is used to identify whether this effect is the same across countries and to study the causes for this variation. The second part of the research investigates the relationship between infrastructure and exports from a different point of view. A modified gravity model is employed as well as different econometric techniques. The results identify the types of infrastructure that need to be fostered to facilitate African exports with each industry. Furthermore, the results are compared across industries and with research focusing on other geographical areas. One of the key findings is that infrastructure is not only positively and significantly related to exports, but that this effect varies across countries and is stronger for the economies in Africa compared to other regions.