Agriculture
Around sixty percent of African workers are employed by the agricultural sector with about three-fifths of African farmers being subsistence farmers. Subsistence farms provide a source of food and a relatively small income for the family, but generally fail to produce enough to make re-investment possible. Larger farms tend to grow cash crops such as coffee, cotton, cocoa, and rubber. These farms, normally operated by large corporations, cover tens of square kilometres and employ large numbers of labourers.

The situation whereby African nations export crops to the West while millions on the continent starve has been blamed on Western States including Japan, the European Union and the United States. These countries protect their own agricultural sectors with high import tariffs and offer subsidies to their farmers, which many contend leads the overproduction of such commodities as grain, cotton and milk.

The result of this is that the global price of such products is continually reduced until Africans are unable to compete, except for cash crops that do not grow easily in a northern climate.
Due to these market forces, in Africa excess capacity is devoted to growing crops for export. Thus, when civil unrest or a bad harvest occurs, there is often very little food saved and many starve. Ironically, excess foodstuffs grown in developed nations are regularly destroyed, as it is not economically viable to transport it across the oceans to a market poor in capital. Although cash crops can expand a nation's wealth, there is often a risk that focusing on them rather than staples will lead to food shortages and hunger.

Mining and drilling
Africa's most valuable exports are minerals and petroleum. A few countries possess and export the vast majority of these resources. The southern nations have large reserves of gold, diamonds, and copper. Petroleum is concentrated in Nigeria, its neighbours, and Libya.

While mining and drilling produce most of Africa's revenues each year, these industries only employ about two million people, a tiny fraction of the continent's population. Profits normally go either to large corporations or to the governments. Both have been known to squander this money on luxuries for the elite or on mega projects that return little value.

In some cases, these resources have turned out to be a curse. Although Congo is rich in minerals, the country remains one of the poorest countries in the world. This is historically due to ownership fights over these minerals, tracing back to the early 1900s. After Congo's independence from Belgium, the colonial government hesitated to leave behind these resources. Congo solicited UN help against Belgium, but that turned out to be a bad idea. In an attempt to get out of the quagmire, Congo sought Soviet assistance. This led the country into deeper trouble, as the country separated into two and a long proxy war between the West and East began.

Manufacturing
Africa is the least industrialized continent; only South Africa and North Africa have substantial manufacturing sectors. Despite readily available cheap labour, nearly all of the continent's natural resources are exported for secondary refining and manufacturing. According to the AFDB, about 15% of workers are employed in the industrial sector.

The multinational corporations that control most of the world's major industries and their financiers require political stability before erecting an expensive factory. An educated populace, good infrastructure and a stable source of electricity are essential to investments. These factors are rare in Africa. Other developing regions of the world such as India and China have been more attractive to companies looking to build a new factory or invest in a local enterprise.

Many African states used to limit foreign investment to ensure local majority ownership. Close governmental control over industry further discouraged international investment. Attempts to foster local industry have been hampered by insufficient technology, training, and investment money. The paucity of local markets and the difficulty of transporting goods from major African centres to world markets contribute to the lack of manufacturing outside of South Africa and Egypt.

The continent has the largest growth rate of cellular subscribers in the world. African markets are expanding nearly twice as fast as Asian markets. The African cell phone has created a base for cellular banking.