1981, larf'e-scale manufa.cturinf' in diferia contributed 87.7 per cent of value aooec iu 'the sector. However, even in the few countries where heavy industry has made notable progress, apart 61 E/ECA /Cr,:. 9/5 from the petrochemical industry, which is very advanced tech­ nolorical} y, it is limited to vcuicle assembly and metal produc­ tion, ant the developiJ.ent of Ir.echanical and electrical encineer­ ing remai~s ellibryonic. 104. A nc<.i1er import~mt characteristic of African manufacturinc is its dependence on external surplies of basic equipment, raw materials, spare parts and othur investment inputs. This is al­ most inevitable, as Mirican countries are still at the becinning of the incu:::;t;rializHtion precess: they have not yet mastered the CLre tecl:niques cf basic equipn:ent rrocuction and development, anc do nc~ yet possess an indirencus corps of technicians able to orrinate industrial tecbHOlOfY· The consequences of this situa­ tion can be crievous, hov:'ever, as in case of Ghana, where the failure to eenerate eYpcrts to pay for industrial inruts is one of the n:ain causes of the prolonged economic crisis. 2. T ren cs in 1 981-1 982 (~) Prct'uction 105. In 1981 ·-. •. t.; rate of crowth in manufacturine industry fell to on~y 2.9 per cent (at 1970 prices) fro~ 5.b per cent in 1980, and an :.veraee of 5.8 per cent in 1:/lt-1980. The slump affected all subregions, and was c..:..rectly related to the general economic depression experienced by the African reeion durinr the year. In major oi~-e.xportine countries, rnanufacturinr proouctibn incrrased by only 2.0 per cent comparei to 8.0 per cent in 1980 and.total f"rowth of 27 per cent i11 1977-1980. In non-oil-eYportine coun"tries and CLur.t;ries other than the least developeo a :;:;imilar trend v.a.s observec: rrovrth in manufacturing proc;uction dror")ed to 4 :r;er t::ent compared tc 5.9 per ct.ut in 19c-O. :~ates by sub­