important market for its burgeoning manufacturing industry, notably in the Export Processing Zone (EPZ), nurtured by foreign investment, in particular from Hong Kong SAR, China, whose investors had established markets in EEC. Additionally, Mauritius also enjoyed preferential access to foreign markets under the “Multi-Fiber Agreement”. Gradually, the country has also been diversifying its markets, including for the tourism sector by adding multiple airport access points across the globe. The openness of the EPZ and the export sector, on the other hand, did not necessarily take away the protection of the import-substituting sectors in the initial stage, denoted by Rodrik (1999) as the “heterodox opening”. **Ethiopia** also succeeded in growing exports of textiles, clothing, and footwear from almost zero at the beginning of the 2000s. Already it had access to major economies through mechanisms such as the US Africa Growth and Opportunity Act and the EU’s Everything but Arms initiative, Ethiopia started the accession process to the WTO in 2003 and continued to expand markets to countries in East Asia and Middle East. Meanwhile, service exports had also boomed, driven by strong performance of transport and tourism, in particular Ethiopian Airlines. Today, Ethiopia has more diversified markets than most of its peers (World Bank, 2022).

External markets represent additional demand for national production, and trade policies could help facilitate their access. Moreover, favorable impact from exports could go beyond its direct contribution to GDP, through other channels including improving total factor productivity that help sustain growth for a longer run. A rich body of research offers empirical evidence on the association of export expansion and economic growth. For instance, Kavoussi (1984) studied a sample of 73 developing countries for the 19601978 period and found evidence in support of export expansion’s positive impact on growth and TFP among both low-income and middle-income countries. The reality is that Sub-Saharan Africa still represents a small share of global trade (around 3%), but it is growing rapidly; on the other hand, the share of trade in national income is substantial in many economies that are vulnerable to external shocks— _i.e._ , total exports as share of GDP is 53% in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2019 (Coulibaly, Kassa, and Zeufack 2022).<sup>18</sup> Expanding access to markets, along with an economic and export product diversification, help mitigate external shocks and sustain growth.

# _<u>Investing into the Future</u>_

Meanwhile, the initial resources accumulated in these countries were responsibly and efficiently managed and invested for the future to sustain the growth, notably in infrastructure, human capital, and environmental sustainability. **Botswana** is well known for its prudent management of mineral resources. It established the Pula Fund, a sovereign wealth fund, to administer and save profits from mining activities for future generations. Important portions of these mineral revenues, one of the highest in Africa and comparable with Norway, were directed to infrastructure, education, and health care that are fundamental to sustained growth. When developing cattle production further, the Botswana government had sustainability in mind. The government prepared legislation for conservation and improvement of agricultural land to curtail overgrazing early on. **Mauritius** had a relatively well-educated population in the 1980s, thanks partly to the country’s universal education, propelling the country’s export-oriented strategy. In the 1980s, the government’s focus turned to improving the quality, rather than the quantity, of education. Public investment also focused on basic infrastructure, and the government encouraged investment in productive sectors such as manufacturing rather than consumption such as residential housing. The country also ventured into renewable energy by developing alternative usage of bagasse, a byproduct of its traditional sugar industry. In **Ethiopia** , there was a massive scale-up of primary education to the extent that the primary 18 Coulibaly et al. (2022) also identify trade agreements, global value chains and offshoring, regional integration, and trade in services as important ingredients for a successful market access strategy.