Local economic development in Africa: Global context and research directions

This paper locates local economic development research and practice in Africa in a global context. It provides an overview of the international development of local economic development (LED), of its contested definitions and theoretical status, and of existing scholarship on the topic of LED policy and practice specifically across sub-Saharan Africa. Currently there is much more LED research available for South Africa than for the other sub-Saharan African countries. The paper highlights the need for this imbalance to be redressed.