Africa  

Like South America , Africa is not usually considered an industrial nation. The continent is rife with political strife, in some areas amounting to open warfare and genocide; the unity of government and security of capital investment or even physical existence is not present to the extent required to build a stable industry-based economy.  

The African economic structure, as experienced by most people, is mainly agricultural, with families or communities practicing subsistence farming. A large part of the economy, however, focuses on the export of valuable natural resources, including minerals such as precious, industrially-used and radioactive metals and, most influentially, oil.  

Again, factories exist in South Africa , established by Dutch settlers, but they do not occasion a significant influence on the continental economy.  
 

Sources

Mosk, Carl. " Japan , Industrialization and Economic Growth". EH.Net Encyclopedia, edited by Robert Whaples. January 19, 2004 .  < http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/mosk.japan.final > 

Nash, Gary B. The American People: Creating a Nation and a Society. Pearson Education: 2004. 

Interview with Professor Peter Howitt, 4. 25. 06