Download or read book Creating Systems of Innovation in Africa written by Mammo Muchie and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2013-01-29 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The most popularised concept in the economics of innovation literature has been the national system of innovation (NSI). It was in the late 1980s that the concept that Frederik List coined as the National Political Economy of Production took off again with different thinkers writing about the peculiarities and distinctions of the Japanese, American, British, German, East Asian Tigers and other varieties of system construction. Freeman defines National System of Innovation as the network of institutions in the public and private sectors whose activities and interactions initiate, import, modify and diff use new technologies. Richard Nelson defines it as a set of institutions whose interactions determine the innovative performance of national firms. Lundvall defines the system of innovation as the elements and relationships which interact in the production, diffusion and use of new and economically useful knowledge and are either located within or rooted inside the borders of a nation state. The normative assumption is that those nations that succeeded in building economic strength relied on the science, engineering, technology and innovation capability that made them to achieve an innovation advantage to put them ahead in the world, acquiring national or regional economic leadership as the case may be depending on what level of analyses is selected to look at particular failure, success or progress they made. In this volume we have a glimpse of how in different African economies from Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria specific cases have been taken to explore how systems of innovation is evolving.

Download or read book What Do Science Technology and Innovation Mean from Africa written by Clapperton Chakanetsa Mavhunga and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2017-06-16 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explorations of science, technology, and innovation in Africa not as the product of “technology transfer” from elsewhere but as the working of African knowledge. In the STI literature, Africa has often been regarded as a recipient of science, technology, and innovation rather than a maker of them. In this book, scholars from a range of disciplines show that STI in Africa is not merely the product of “technology transfer” from elsewhere but the working of African knowledge. Their contributions focus on African ways of looking, meaning-making, and creating. The chapter authors see Africans as intellectual agents whose perspectives constitute authoritative knowledge and whose strategic deployment of both endogenous and inbound things represents an African-centered notion of STI. “Things do not (always) mean the same from everywhere,” observes Clapperton Chakanetsa Mavhunga, the volume's editor. Western, colonialist definitions of STI are not universalizable. The contributors discuss topics that include the trivialization of indigenous knowledge under colonialism; the creative labor of chimurenga, the transformation of everyday surroundings into military infrastructure; the role of enslaved Africans in America as innovators and synthesizers; the African ethos of “fixing”; the constitutive appropriation that makes mobile technologies African; and an African innovation strategy that builds on domestic capacities. The contributions describe an Africa that is creative, technological, and scientific, showing that African STI is the latest iteration of a long process of accumulative, multicultural knowledge production. Contributors Geri Augusto, Shadreck Chirikure, Chux Daniels, Ron Eglash, Ellen Foster, Garrick E. Louis, D. A. Masolo, Clapperton Chakanetsa Mavhunga, Neda Nazemi, Toluwalogo Odumosu, Katrien Pype, Scott Remer

Download or read book Innovation for Development in Africa written by Jussi S. Jauhiainen and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-11-13 with total page 173 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book uncovers the many ways in which innovations and innovation system development policies have become crucial to development policy formation across Africa. As new instruments, actors and tools emerge in development cooperation, the role of innovation in the societal development of developing countries needs to be addressed fully. This book delves into subjects as diverse as the changing development policies between the Global North and South, the role of innovation in international aid and development policies, the role of public, private and non-governmental sectors, universities and other development actors, and the potential for inclusive innovation in local communities. In particular, the book asks who benefits from innovation-focussed development policies, and if and how practical innovation instruments include the global poor. Written in an accessible and engaging style, the book includes a range of discussion questions and further reading suggestions to suit a range of readers, from students right through to policy makers and practitioners, or anyone else looking for an introduction to innovation policies and development in Africa.

Download or read book Developing National Systems of Innovation written by Eduardo Albuquerque and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2015-01-30 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Interactions between firms and universities are key building blocks of innovation systems. This book focuses on those interactions in developing countries, presenting studies based on fresh empirical material prepared by research teams in 12 countries

Download or read book Innovation Africa written by Olugbenga Adesida and published by Emerald Group Publishing. This book was released on 2016-03-31 with total page 479 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book contains a number of case studies that examine the nature and origins of emerging high-end innovation hubs in Africa. It analyses, highlights and draws lessons from some of the most promising and successful innovation cases in Africa today, exploring the key factors driving their successful emergence, growth and future prospects.

Download or read book Firm Level Innovation In Africa written by Abiodun Egbetokun and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-04-29 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The literature on innovation in Africa is rapidly expanding, and a recurring thread in the emergent literature is the pervasiveness of systemic weaknesses that inhibit the innovation process. Despite these, firms are able to innovate in Africa. It is then logical to ask: how do African firms manage to overcome the prevalent constraints and learn to innovate? This book directly tackles this question, with a view to improving our understanding of the innovation landscape in Africa. The book brings together some of the latest innovation research from across the African continent, ranging from Tanzania and Ethiopia in the east to Nigeria in the west. The chapters included in the collection adopt different but complementary theoretical and methodological approaches to address a rich mix of interrelated issues. These issues include the factors that enhance or inhibit innovation in African firms, the sources of (knowledge/information for) innovation, policy options for overcoming constraints and facilitating firm-level innovation, the nature and roles of brokers and intermediaries in dealing with innovation constraints and in facilitating the innovation process and the role of interactive learning and acquisition of embodied technology in the innovation process. This book was originally published as a special issue of Innovation and Development.

Download or read book Industrial Clusters and Innovation Systems in Africa written by Oyebanji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka and published by UNU. This book was released on 2007 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the incidence and role of clusters as a viable and increasingly important form of industrial organization in Africa. It presents a series of theoretically grounded case studies that analyze clusters in different industrial sectors and at different levels of economic development. The overall aim is to improve understanding of how local clusters can be transformed into local systems of innovation and how local clusters can be better connected to global actors. The authors draw out implications for policy and practice and provide guidance to governments, private sector associations, and non-governmental organizations.--Publisher's description.

Download or read book Social and Technological Innovation in Africa written by Solomon Nwaka and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-07-16 with total page 207 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the landscape of sustained investment in research and innovation in Africa, which are critical for development. This cutting-edge analysis is based on empirical evidence and the author’s experience in managing health and related innovations on the continent and globally. It concludes, for the first time, that African innovation is largely driven by the principles of Social, rather than Technological innovation. The significance of this finding and the need to optimize, scale and sustain this dominant innovation is addressed in various chapters that analyze the status, challenges and opportunities. Particularly, the financing, collaboration and coordination patterns for these activities on the continent show a fragmented ecosystem that is largely dependent on external donors and aid. The importance of supportive policies, leadership and venture mechanisms that incentivizes public and private entities to innovate is further exemplified by the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic. The book proposes mechanism to address identified challenges.

Download or read book Social Innovation In Africa written by Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-07-15 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Encouraged by the emergence and early impact of social innovators on the African Continent, but frustrated by the slow pace of large scale change, this book is focused on filling the knowledge gap for those tackling Africa’s serious social problems. It lays out the required building blocks for achieving scale at impact. By creating clear mission, vision, and values statements and piloting and rolling out business models that are demand-driven, simple, and low-cost, with compelling measurement and evaluation tools that leverage technology. It also explores the steps for attracting and retaining talent and financing and forming strategic partnerships with the private, public and non-profit sectors to foster scaling. Practical case studies provide inspiration for those who seek to become innovators or to be employed by them. Finally, it outlines the crucial steps for key stakeholders to take in order to support the emergence of more social innovators on the African continent, create an enabling environment for the scaling of high-impact initiatives and advance collective efforts to build stronger communities for current and future generations. This is a practical and inspirational guide for all entrepreneurs and individuals that seek to combine business and social goals and for those in the public, private and non-profit sectors that aim to foster and support these projects.

Download or read book Innovation Regional Integration and Development in Africa written by Samuel Ojo Oloruntoba and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-07-26 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This edited volume discusses the role of innovation and regional integration in economic development in Africa. Over the past five decades, post-colonial African countries have struggled to break loose from the trap of poverty and underdevelopment through the adoption of various development strategies at regional, national, and continental levels. However, the results of both national and regional efforts at advancing development on the continent have been mixed. Although the importance of agglomeration and fusion of institutions have long been recognized as possible path to achieving economic development in Africa, the approach to regionalism has been unduly focused on market integration, while neglecting other dimensions such as social policy, mobility of labor, educational policy, biotechnology, regional legislation, manufacturing, innovation, and science and technology. This volume investigates the link between innovation, regional integration, and development in Africa, arguing that the immediate and long term development of Africa lies not just in the structural transformation of its economies but in the advancement of scientific and innovation capacities. The book is divided into four parts. Part I addresses the theoretical and conceptual underpinnings of innovation and regional integration in Africa. Part II presents case studies which examine how regional economic institutions are fostering innovation in Africa. Part III of the book deals with sectoral issues on innovation and integrated development in Africa. Part IV sets the future research on innovation, regional integration, and development in Africa. Combining theoretical analysis and a comparative, interdisciplinary approach, this volume is appropriate for researchers and students interested in economic development, political economy, African studies, international relations, agricultural science, and geography, as well as policymakers in regional economic communities and the African Union.

Download or read book Transient Workspaces written by Clapperton Chakanetsa Mavhunga and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2014-09-19 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An account of technology in Africa from an African perspective, examining hunting in Zimbabwe as an example of an innovative mobile workspace. In this book, Clapperton Mavhunga views technology in Africa from an African perspective. Technology in his account is not something always brought in from outside, but is also something that ordinary people understand, make, and practice through their everyday innovations or creativities—including things that few would even consider technological. Technology does not always originate in the laboratory in a Western-style building but also in the society in the forest, in the crop field, and in other places where knowledge is made and turned into practical outcomes. African creativities are found in African mobilities. Mavhunga shows the movement of people as not merely conveyances across space but transient workspaces. Taking indigenous hunting in Zimbabwe as one example, he explores African philosophies of mobilities as spiritually guided and of the forest as a sacred space. Viewing the hunt as guided mobility, Mavhunga considers interesting questions of what constitutes technology under regimes of spirituality. He describes how African hunters extended their knowledge traditions to domesticate the gun, how European colonizers, with no remedy of their own, turned to indigenous hunters for help in combating the deadly tsetse fly, and examines how wildlife conservation regimes have criminalized African hunting rather than enlisting hunters (and their knowledge) as allies in wildlife sustainability. The hunt, Mavhunga writes, is one of many criminalized knowledges and practices to which African people turn in times of economic or political crisis. He argues that these practices need to be decriminalized and examined as technologies of everyday innovation with a view toward constructive engagement, innovating with Africans rather than for them.

Download or read book The New Harvest written by Calestous Juma and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2015 with total page 355 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: African agriculture is currently at a crossroads, at which persistent food shortages are compounded by threats from climate change. But, as this book argues, Africa can feed itself in a generation and can help contribute to global food security. To achieve this Africa has to define agriculture as a force in economic growth by advancing scientific and technological research, investing in infrastructure, fostering higher technical training, and creating regional markets.

Download or read book African Journal of Science Technology Innovation and Development written by Muchie Mammo and published by . This book was released on 2012-03-01 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Informal Economy in Developing Nations written by Erika Kraemer-Mbula and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2016-10-20 with total page 443 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This pioneering study offers a conceptual model and rich empirical evidence to help researchers and policy-makers understand informal innovation in developing countries.

Download or read book Innovation and the Development Agenda written by OECD and published by OECD Publishing. This book was released on 2010-08-12 with total page 155 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Innovation drives long-term economic growth. This book examines the role of innovation in developing countries, with a focus on Africa.

Download or read book Putting Africa First written by Mammo Muchie and published by Aalborg Universitetsforlag. This book was released on 2003 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The expression 'national systems of innovation' was introduced in the 1980s to emphasise the interdependence between technical and institutional change. For many reasons, the work on Africa is especially important. The prevalence and persistence of conflict, poverty and poor governance on the African continent is widely considered to be the most urgent global development issue today. This volume brings together a selection of original contributions, which analyse African economic issues within the theoretical framework of 'innovation systems'. With its combination of conceptual, policy oriented, empirical, and cross-regional analyses the book should appeal to scholars, policy makers, and development practitioners along with other students of economic affairs.

Download or read book Indigenous Knowledge and Education in Africa written by Chika Ezeanya-Esiobu and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-04-30 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This open access book presents a strong philosophical, theoretical and practical argument for the mainstreaming of indigenous knowledge in curricula development, and in teaching and learning across the African continent. Since the dawn of political independence in Africa, there has been an ongoing search for the kind of education that will create a class of principled and innovative citizens who are sensitive to and committed to the needs of the continent. When indigenous or environment-generated knowledge forms the basis of learning in classrooms, learners are able to immediately connect their education with their lived reality. The result is much introspection, creativity and innovation across fields, sectors and disciplines, leading to societal transformation. Drawing on several theoretical assertions, examples from a wide range of disciplines, and experiences gathered from different continents at different points in history, the book establishes that for education to trigger the necessary transformation in Africa, it should be constructed on a strong foundation of learners’ indigenous knowledge. The book presents a distinct and uncharted pathway for Africa to advance sustainably through home-grown and grassroots based ideas, leading to advances in science and technology, growth of indigenous African business and the transformation of Africans into conscious and active participants in the continent’s progress. Indigenous Knowledge and Education in Africa is of interest to educators, entrepreneurs, policymakers, researchers and individuals engaged in finding sustainable and strategic solutions to regional and global advancement.