SOCIETY & ENVIRONMENT
5. AFRICAN REGION NSI
Chapter Four examined the main features and performance, which is the history, governance, present policies and institutional structure of the South African NSI. Chapter Five examines the NSI across the African region.
5.1 INTRODUCTION
The chapter adds to the importance of intra-African region NSI dialogue and draws out both context-specific and generic country experiences that could inform policy developments in South Africa. The chapter reviews mechanisms employed for prioritisation, institutional make-up, framework conditions, modes of policy learning, human resources and human capital, knowledge infrastructure and knowledge transfer, performance measurement and evaluation, research and research commercialisation, innovation activities and innovation indicators in a range of LDC.
This chapter is organised as follows: section 5.2 examines trends in SD in the African regional context in terms of the business sectors (economic pillar), social equity and environmental sustainability pillars. Section 5.3 reviews literature with respect to innovation policy and governance in the Africa region. Section 5.4 is a review of the African region NSI: main features and performance. Section 5.5 entails a review of research and knowledge systems within the African region. Section 5.6 discusses the African region’s development of innovation indicators for SD through research in the NSI. Section 5.7 undertakes a review of public administration and public policy in the African region. Section 5.8 is a review of the construct of SD through research in the NSI in other developing regions and section 5.9 presents the chapter summary. Reviewing the trends in the African region is vital as Ward (2011:14) predicts that the emerging-world will contribute twice as much as the developed world to global growth by 2050. In 2050, 30 top economies by GDP, 19 of them will be ‘emerging’ economies such as China and India being the largest and third-largest economies in the world, respectively (Ward, 2011). Having briefly introduced this chapter, the next section provides a review of SD trends within the African region in terms of the economic pillar, social pillar, the environmental pillar and trade and investment.
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5.2 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPING TRENDS IN AFRICA
This section examines SD trends in the African regional context. Developing countries face three broad complex sets of SD policy objectives, namely: promoting international competitiveness for the business sectors (economic pillar), social equity and environmental sustainability pillars. An added complexity is the relatively poorly documented nature of African epistemology because this research views the NSI as largely shaped by social, institutional and historical conditions. Lotz- Sisitka and Lupele (2006:49) maintain that the discourse of ‘internationally acceptable standards’
is, in many ways, retarding opportunities for deliberating African epistemologies as most African scholars attempt to compete according to the ‘international standards’. Therefore, in this research context, trade, investment and technology are viewed as the primary drivers of SST in South Africa and in the African region. According to UNCTAD (2012:73), the growth pattern is path dependent. The pertinent question is not whether - but how - Africa can implement a strategy of SST. The differences in development stages observed in this literature review in the African region can be explained by differing rates in technology adoption (Kaldor, 1957: 594-621), which has led to the concept of ‘technology-gap’ (Fagerberg, 1988:88-95; Abramovitz, 1994:22-40).
Sustainability in national development requires a strategic approach, which is both long-term and integrated or “joined-up” in linking various processes and complex challenges of SD (OECD &
UNDP, 2002; Economic Commission for Africa, 2010b). Table 5.2-1 presents a list of possible actors in the African region development field. The actors who influence policies in the African region are explored.
Table 5.2-1: Actors in development field: different stakeholders, different development
INSTITUTIONAL STATE IFIS UN SYSTEM CIVIL SOCIETY
Structure Governments, IMF, World Agencies/NGOs NGOs Infrastructure Infrastructure
Bureaucracies, interest groups, parties, citizens
WTO, G7, central, international and development banks, Congress, the Federal
UN General Assembly, governments, ILO,WHO
People. Social movements trade unions, parties, firms, churches,
Locations Capitals, Washington DC New York,
Geneva, Nairobi Dispersed Development
thinking Economics (neoclassical to Keynesian), human development
Neoclassical economics, neoliberalism
Human
development Alternative development (and post development) Disciplines Economics,
political science, public
administration
Economics Economics,
political, economy, IR, political science
Sociology, anthropology, ecology, gender, cultural studies Source: UNCTAD (2009:9)
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As indicated in Table 5.2-1, the globalising discourse has had an effect in the arena of SD.
However, Bissio (2002), Bond and Guliwe (2003) and Fisher and Ponniah (2003) question whether genuine SD can emerge from geo-political power relations and ‘compradorism’, indicating a need for policy critique as well as policy implementation (Lotz-Sisitka & Lupele, 2006:50). Touraine (2000:12) and Bourdieu (2003:14) caution against a ‘fake universalism’ set by neo-liberal orthodoxy, which uses universal definitions of a global development path and standards-based thinking. Nevertheless, the heuristic selection and innovation orientation in (African regions) leads to unpredictable trajectories that may inhibit or support innovation. For example, 2001 saw an acceleration of policy discussions on regional integration with the establishment of the African Union (AU) and the launch of NEPAD. At the highest political level, NEPAD provides a framework for addressing SD challenges in Africa (Economic Commission for Africa, 2010b:4), similar to the wicked challenges pointed out earlier. However, with the exception of the African STI Initiative and a number of less dynamic activities, the benefits of South Africa's involvement in the AU S&T activities, including those related to the NEPAD, have not been well documented.
The National Science Board (NSB, 2008) points to four areas of substantial capacity for sustainable growth and convergence. The first of the four areas is technological infrastructure such as domestic investments in R&D, education and imports of foreign knowledge. The second is the socioeconomic infrastructure, which covers broader educational achievements, economic institutions, such as physical and IP rights. The third is the productive capacity, which includes the physical and human resources available for the manufacturing sector. The fourth is the national orientation, which covers policies and attitudes that constitute a business-friendly investment climate.
The NSSD involves a broad range of stakeholders who need to undertake change towards SD (OECD & UNDP, 2002). An examination of the NSSD characteristics in African countries that participated in the research conducted by Economic Commission for Africa (ECA, 2010b:6) reveals that those countries that had developed and were implementing NSSDs had held multi- stakeholder consultations, organised training sessions and workshops and either established or designated national coordinating bodies.
Table 5.2-2 presents a summary of the NSSD process of selected countries context, which indicates that most African countries have developed and are implementing NSSDs. However, the types and approaches differ depending on the particular country context.