created a ranee of serious problems. The most notable of these are dependence on imported inputs, and the low level cf capacity utilization leaaine to hieh domestic production costs relative to imports. A eood case in point is Ghana, where moat industries are operating at less than 30 per cent of capacity because for­ eign eYchanre difficulties make it irepossi ble tc ir.Irort inter­ mediate inputs. African countries have also fcllowed protec­ tionist policies to guarantee markets for their incGstries. Here too results have been disappointinr, and in fact many of the protected industries, instead of maturine :o a position where their products are competitive with imports. have become wholly dependent on heavy subsidies in oraer to survive. 120. State intervention has always been very in:portnnt in the manufacturing sector; in most African countries the r~overnment owns a significant share of capital and plays an important role in manarement, while in some the industrial sector is practically wholly gove rnment-cont rolled. Government stirrulus to manufactu r­ ine development has often been a crucial factor, as can be seen from experience in Aleeria, where the invest~ent of oil revenues has led to the creation of sizable basic incustries, notably in petrochemicals, where Aleeria now has a leading position among African countries. In Erypt, under State direction, the manufac­ turine sector has moved. towards hieher ana more complex forms of technoloey, ana the country is now able to operate nuclear power stations. 67 E/ECA /CM. 9/5 121. However, government-controlled industries have proved a disappointment in many cases, ar.d in many African countries dras­tic steps have had to be taken to save them. A case in point is the Ivory Coast, where austerity measures have been taken to reduce eYpenditure in public corporations, with some of them 