Structural transformation towards more productive activities and better jobs is closely linked with a strong natural-resource sector. To harness Africa’s natural resources for structural transformation, a four-layer policy approach is suggested:

i. establish general framework conditions for structural transformation such as education, infrastructure and access to sufficiently large, regional markets;

ii. establish specific conditions required for natural resource sectors to thrive;

iii. optimise the revenues from natural resources and invest them strategically to promote structural transformation;

iv. address structural transformation directly by increasing agricultural productivity and enabling economic linkages between the natural-resource sector and the economy as a whole.