The economic complexity of African countries and opportunity costs of not exporting unprocessed products using the ICP data 1 Authors: Nadège Désirée YAMEOGO 2 , Tiguéné NABASSAGA 3 and Koffi Marc Kouakou 4 Abstract: This paper attempts to measure the level of complexity of African economies by adopting the approach recently introduced by Hidalgo et al. (2007) and Hidalgo and Hausmann (2009). We used the method of reflection to compute countries economic complexity (ECI) and product economic complexity (PCI). A new dataset is generated and includes detailed information related to technology intensiveness of African countries exports, their revealed comparative advantages, indicators related to their diversity, and ubiquity. Countries are classified according to their economic complexity. About 217 countries are taken into account in the computation but a focus is given in particular to African countries. Hausmann, Hidalgo et al. (2007-2011) analyzed a few African countries but this study accounts for almost all African countries for which data are available. We found that not only are African economies not complex, but their exports are weakly diversified and weakly sophisticated. We also measure product complexity index and classified export products according to their level of sophistication. Our empirical results show that African countries do not export complex products compared to the rest of the world. Countries are specialized in the export of raw materials. Their share of sophisticated products in total exports is the lowest compared to other developing regions in the world. Yet export of low or medium technology manufacturing goods contribute to increase income and reduce poverty significantly. However, exports of raw material reduce income and increases poverty significantly on the continent. On the other side, countries spend a large share of their budget to import sophisticated or processed goods from the rest of the world. Yet, there is an opportunity cost of imported transformed goods which could have been produced domestically. To assess this opportunity cost, the international comparison program (ICP) data (2011) on prices are also used. Empirical results show that high level of ICP increases poverty and reduces GDP or GNI per capita. This can be addressed by increasing domestic production in the manufacturing which will create less vulnerable jobs. But this will require to invest in improving their productive capabilities. By doing so, African countries will structurally change from raw material exporters to manufacturing producers and exporters and move the majority of its poor people from poor status to non-poor status. Key words: Products sophistication, poverty, employment, inequality 1 The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and not of the African Development Bank Group or its Board of Directors. 2 African Development Bank,Abidjan, Côte d’ivoire, N.YAMEOGO@AFDB.ORG , corresponding author 3 African Development Bank, Abidjan, Côte d’ivoire tiguene.nabassaga@gmail.com 4 African Development Bank, Abidjan, Côte d’ivoire M.KOFFI@AFDB.ORG