Author: Ariadni Zormpa, AfricaLics secretariat/Aalborg University, Denmark
Background
Innovation and development studies in Africa is an emerging field, and since early 2000, the field has been developing steadily. Innovation and Development (I & D) studies research is key to understanding the way science, technology, innovation and society interact. Such studies are key to enhancing the knowledge base available for policy makers and practitioners as they make decisions concerning future development paths in African countries. The establishment of AfricaLics in 2012 was a key part of efforts by African scholars and others to enhance innovation studies and the broader field of innovation and development studies on the continent. This webinar was the second in a series of webinars scheduled in 2021 to discuss the overarching topic “the development of I & D field in Africa”. It was a follow up to the first webinar held on 4th February 2021 to discuss the origin of AfricaLics and the history of the field of I & D studies in Africa.
The webinar focused on the future of Innovation and Development studies research in Africa. It attracted 93 participants from within and outside Africa. It was designed to be interactive and engaging such that the participants freely expressed opinion about the topic of discussion. This was achieved with the combination of plenary presentations, as well as the use of chat box and padlet during breakout sessions.
Speakers
Prof. Erika Kraemer-Mbula – University of Johannesburg and member of AfricaLics Scientific Board (ASB) moderated the webinar and introduced what the field looked like around 2012 when a baseline survey on I&D in Africa was first conducted; and years later when follow-up mapping exercises were conducted.
Dr. Rebecca Hanlin – AfricaLics secretariat, presented emerging data from an ongoing study of the development of the field conducted by the AfricaLics secretariat in 2020/21.
Prof. Abdelkader Djeflat – University of Lille in France and member of AfricaLics Scientific Board (ASB) concluded the discussion by sharing his thoughts on how the field could develop in the future.
Key highlights from the speakers and break out rooms
Prof. Erika Kraemer-Mbula: The highlights are based on the first baseline survey conducted in 2012 and the two follow-up mapping exercises (2014 and 2016) which provided some knowledge of the field.
- In the early 2000, the academic community that focused on I&D in Africa was small and dispersed within few organizations dedicated to the study of innovation in Africa, and a limited number of scholarly contributions. In addition, little was known about the composition of the community.
- The number of research outputs has been growing and new topics are emerging. However, female representation has remained low.
- Overall, there is need to support publishing by African scholars in international journals and ensure additional funding for research on Innovation and Development.
Dr. Rebecca Hanlin: The highlights are based on emerging data from an ongoing study of the development of the field conducted by the AfricaLics secretariat. The study combines the results by the 2012 survey; data from the AfricaLics conferences held in Rwanda, Oran and Dar es Salaam and some of the Globelics conferences in Africa. The study also draws on preliminary results from a broader bibliometric survey by Technopolis which is part of an external evaluation of AfricaLics activities from 2012 onwards. The combined emerging results will contribute to a journal article on status of I & D field in Africa under development by some members of AfricaLics. Some key highlights:
- AfricaLics focus area: results shows that the on-going research is not sufficiently broad based to capture the reality of African economies.
- Analysis of AfricaLics members’ publications in early 2021: the results show that the majority of AfricaLics scholars’ publications engage in the fields of business, political science and economics, while the papers presented during the Globelics and AfricaLics conferences where mostly connected to the field of ‘firm level production and innovation’ and ‘systems thinking’. Gender was found the least engaged topic during the conferences.
- Participation: The results show that the majority of participants came from Western African countries (Nigeria 94%) and Eastern African countries.
Highlights from the first breakout sessions: These sessions focused on the question “how do members of the network understand I&D studies research in Africa?”
Reflection on conceptual and theoretical issues:
- Systems oriented thinking becomes stronger among scholars possibly because Africa is on the transitioning pathway from agriculture productivity to industrialization.
- Is the AfricaLics network a more systems-oriented network interested in academic research, or also policy advice?
- Most of the theories and concepts used on Africa’s research are predominantly from the Global North.
Methodology:
- Quantitative methods dominate research in Africa.
- Multidisciplinary is important for African researchers when it comes to topics as agriculture.
Highlights from the second breakout sessions: The sessions focused on “what do you think should be the future priorities of I&D as a research field in Africa?”
Reflection on conceptual and theoretical issues:
- The development of theories and concepts on Innovation and Development that are firmly based on African realities is critical for the future of I&D studies in Africa.
- Scholars should engage on the grounded theory approach to improve concepts and theories. One participant commented “How can we bring more perspectives from the African network to the global network?”
- Scholars need to work less with the application of concepts developed in radically different contexts, and in doing so they also need to re-focus on the local level in order to re-define innovation trajectories in Africa.
Methodology:
- Many African higher education systems tend to concentrate on theory and less on practical research. Additional funding should be allocated to these purposes.
- In order to achieve the development of new concepts and theories, more research needs to happen in local contexts.
Sectors and topics to inform the future of the field:
- New and frontier technologies including the 4IR, and their impact in Africa were at the core of the discussions.
- Current topics such as industrialization, green transition, health and the impacts of COVID-19 on innovation also dominated the discussion.
- Gender and women’s participation in I&D research is still a concern for most of the participants.
Prof. Abdelkader Djeflat: Some highlights from his intervention:
- The AfricaLics network needs to be more exposed to a larger context and to the policy makers in Africa.
- Future I&D studies should focus on the need to adapt new frameworks. The use of grounded theory and contextualization is important for the future development of theories on I&D that are relevant for Africa and the local context.
- An important landmark was the Globelics conference in Dakar in 2009 that reflected on ideas for Africa’s development and opened the debate on issues around “catching up”, inequality, poverty reduction, among other topics relevant to Africa’s growth.
- Over time, the network has split (conceptually, methodologically, in topics and sectors), which he argued is a positive development for the network.
- The intervention concluded by underlining that Africa has tremendous growth potential, and the youth is the new engine for that growth. Thus, there is need to build capabilities amongst the young people of Africa.
Key recommendations
- There is still a lot to be done in the field of I&D in Africa and key to the success of this field is teaching.
- AfricaLics should mark the 20-year anniversary of the important landmark of the book “Putting Africa first: the making of African innovation systems” by M. Muchie, P. Gammeltoft, and B. Lundvall. A. Towards this end, suggested way of doing this was a publication or special issue under the title “putting Africa first in theory making.” Another suggested thematic topic could focus on practical developments in Africa to enhance interactions with policy makers.
- Expand the understanding about African innovation system’s strategy and dynamics, which requires more training and more systematic investigation in relevant sectors.
- Focus on the question of financing at macro level and firm level, since Africa needs to find the right support in order to progress.
- Renewable energy and building capabilities, inclusive growth and the role of the state are only some of the key topics that need to be discussed in the future. There were suggestions to explore other emerging topics.