ACCELERATING GROWTH IN AFRICA: THE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION.
"Technology and the fourth industrial revolution are no longer luxuries but they are inevitable substructure of our new way of life", Nigeria's Vice president Yemi Osinbajo submitted. So, a continent that is growth driven like Africa should strive as much as possible to have a firm grip on the latest technology and innovations, but one thing that has served as and remained a major clog in the wheel of Africa's elegant strides in terms of growth is the dearth in its exposure to technology, as well as a knowledge gap in latest innovations around the globe. Apparently, this progressive imbalance has slowed down the pace of every form of growth and in order to accelerate it, premium must be placed on these two cardinal drivers of growth: Technology and innovation.
The Great economies of the world as we have them today couldn't have achieved such feat, if they had been short of the required framework to pursue Technological advancement and innovative strategies. A Country like China is making so much Waves in the world's economy because it enjoys an enabling environment for technology, a good example is the newly unveiled 5G network that is expected to cause a revolution across various sectors. The superpowers like US, UK, Russia, Japan, Germany and others are equally blazing the trail of various wonderful Innovations that would positively transform the world.
However, It goes without saying that Africa is endowed with so many natural resources; from the oil-rich Nigeria, to the gold coast of Ghana and the diamond mines of South Africa, just to mention a few. Yet, what remains a major setback to the growth of the extractive and agro-allied industries is the shortage in the number of facilities they could refine these resources. Nigeria, for example still export crude oil to be refined overseas and then resold to her . This is a huge drawback on the growth of any Nation's economy.
For any Nation to be economical stable, the export rate should exceed that of import but, how is it going to happen if the nation lacks the required set-up to transform its raw materials into their respective end-products. The productive capacity of an economy is hinged on the efficient use of resources within that economy, as economic growth reflects the measure of the relationship between total resource inputs and total economic outputs. Africa is largely lagging behind in this aspect.
Upon careful consideration of the markers of economic growth, the organization of economic cooperation and development (OECD), had adopted two gold standards which are, the real GDP per capita and the multifactor productivity. The gross domestic product measures the value of goods and services produced by a nation while the multifactor productivity seems to measure the contributions of technical and organization Innovation to total productivity. It then leaves us with the inference that an economy is not healthy, if innovations are not being injected into it.
Increased Labour translates to increased productivity has always been our value system, as we've continuously failed in the place of increased Innovations. It is commonly said that if you keep doing the same thing in the same way, you keep on getting the same result, so aside identifying the opportunity of meeting an important societal need, it is equally imperative to place much value on an innovative way of doing things. Suppose fifty people were employed to perform a task and in a bid to increase productivity, fifty more people were employed but the task is still being done with the same approach, the difference that would exist between this workplace and somewhere where Innovation is employed would be noticed.
The global coronavirus pandemic is an eye opener to the importance of technology and innovation in effective human interactions.
Recently, what has never happened before in the history of the world came to bear in light of lockdown measures that restricted human to human interactions. Virtual meetings and conferences were held on Zoom, Skype, Facebook, WhatsApp and various other social media platforms. We've witnessed virtual federal executive council meeting, commissioning of capital projects and even court sittings. In the end, it guaranteed a seamless running of government as well improved trade and generally empowered the populace.
Technology has and will continue to play a major role in medical care, as it is currently employed in various clinical trials around the world towards discovering an effective cure for Covid-19. Africa is rich in herbs and other natural solutions and is better placed for this ultimate discovery if we can engage in innovative research and deploy adequate technology to transform our relevant herbs into drugs that will serve as potential cure.
A major factor to consider if growth will be accelerated is the issue of security. Apparently, most Nations in Africa are being ravaged by bandits and terrorists, and to neutralize these elements of unrest, we must embrace technology in the areas of relevant data gathering, Hi-tech surveillance, acquisition of the latest arms and a hitch-free communication media. We will be better poised towards winning the war against terrorism if technology is taken to the forefront.
Seeking to accelerate growth without employing the latest innovations and technologies is like trying to start a car without a functioning engine. It therefore behooves on us to key into the Technological framework for growth and development, as well as being eager to learn of the latest innovations, encourage capacity building, endogenous development of technology and the domestication of the mechanisms of technology via entrenchment in our school curriculum. All of these if practiced will ensure an enabling environment for technology and would in turn, accelerate growth in Africa.
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