Can the SDGs Promote Structural Transformation in Africa? An Empirical Analysis

Abstract

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