Abstract
An extensive literature has investigated the driving forces behind high-technology exports, but most studies focus on developed countries, and developing countries outside Africa. This paper contributes to the literature in that it assesses the main factors determining export-oriented technological change, using the technological content of exports (high-tech, medium-tech and low-tech exports) as proxy. For this purpose, instrumental variables regressions are applied on a panel dataset of 33 African countries. The findings revealed that the main determinants of high-technology exports are: imports of components, rule of law, human capital, FDI inflows, GDP per capita and manufacturing. For medium-technology exports, the determinants identified are similar to high technology exports with population included. The main determinants of low-technology manufactured exports are similar to the medium level with manufacturing included. These give policy makers in African countries a targeted approach in formulating policies related to exports by technological category.