Michael Ehis Odijie is currently a research fellow in the History Department of University College London. He has various research interests, ranging from slavery and abolition in Anglophone West Africa to industrial policy and the role of state in economic change.

April 11, 2024

Analysis

The Electric Vehicle Developmental State

BYD exemplifies transformations in Chinese industrial policy

The rise of the Chinese EV industry has been enabled not only by generous government subsidies but also by profound changes in strategy and organization, and in particular by a distinctive revival of vertical integration—at both individual firm and national…

December 5, 2023

Analysis

Sectoral Strategy

Free trade and the resurgence of industrial policy in Africa

Industrial policy in Africa is back. Beginning last January, Nigeria moved forward with the second phase of  its “Sugar Master Plan,” a flagship industrial policy that began in 2013 to stimulate domestic production. It does this by offering numerous incentives…