Services, jobs, and economic development in Africa
This brief presents subnational data from 13 African countries, showing shifts toward services jobs, especially for educated workers and women. It highlights potential implications for regional inequality and substantial heterogeneity across service activities.
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Baccini-et-al-Policy-Brief-February-2022.pdf
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- This brief presents findings from a research project that provides access to new data on servicification of economic activity at the subnational level in thirteen African countries.
- Services are the main source of employment generation, especially for educated workers and for women.
- Significant shifts in the composition of employment towards services have occurred, both across and within countries, with growth occurring in service-related occupations across all sectors of the economy.
- Using per capita nightlight luminosity as a proxy for economic development, the data reveal a strong positive association between higher-skill services and economic activity, with potential implications for regional inequality.
- There is substantial heterogeneity across services activities, influenced by market conditions and technology.
- The findings illustrate the importance of microdata to identify heterogeneity across services activities as a function of observable characteristics of individual workers and local markets
- Services, and more generally intangible activities, complement manufacturing and industrial production.