Africa Capacity Report 2017 Building Capacity in Science, Technology and Innovation for Africa’s Transformation This Report is a product of the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF). The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this volume do not necessarily reflect the views of theACBF Executive Board or Board of Governors. This report was produced and published with financial support from the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the African Development Bank (AfDB), African member states, and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB). ACBF does not guarantee the precision of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply any judgment on the part of the Foundation concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying recording or otherwise, without prior written permission. © 2017 The African Capacity Building Foundation 2, Fairbairn Drive, Mt Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe Produced by the Knowledge & Learning Department The African Capacity Building Foundation First printing February 2016 All rights reserved For additional information on project and program operations and other activities of the African Capacity Building Foundation, please visit our website at the following address: http://www.acbf-pact.org Printed in Zimbabwe ISBN: 978-1-77937-079-2 EAN: 9781779370792 AFRICA CAPACITY REPORT 2017 Contents FOREWORD viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xi ABBREVIATIONS xiii OVERVIEW 1 Highlights of the Africa Capacity Index 2016 2 Importance and challenges of STI for Africa’s development 3 The state of STI in Africa 6 STI initiatives and contributions in Africa 7 Capacity gaps in STI in Africa 7 Strategic capacities for STI 8 Key takeaways 9 Organization of the Africa Capacity Report 2017 10 CHAPTER 1 AFRICA’s cAPACITY DEVELOPMENT LANDSCAPE IN 2016 12 Elements of the Africa Capacity Indicators 13 Highlights of the Africa Capacity Index 2016 14 Country coverage in 2016 14 Results of the Africa Capacity Indicators 2016 14 Achievements by cluster 16 Trends in the Africa Capacity Index 17 Achievements by thematic area 18 Africa Capacity Index 2016, top performers 19 Africa Capacity Index 2016, low performers 19 Key messages and policy recommendations 21 iii AFRICA CAPACITY REPORT 2017 CHAPTER 2 SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND INNOVATION CAPACITY IN AFRICA: STATUS AND CHALLENGES 22 Status of STI in Africa 22 Investment trends in research and development 24 Trends in higher education 25 Patterns in human resource development 27 Number of researchers 27 Scientific publications 27 Capacity challenges 28 Paltry investment 28 Limited human resources and capacity 29 Infrastructure shortfalls and progress 29 Missing and data 30 Gender issues 30 Innovation capacity 31 Monitoring and evaluation 32 Key messages and policy recommendations 32 CHAPTER 3 SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND INNOVATION INITIATIVES AND CONTRIBUTIONS 34 STI research and development initiatives—regional 34 STI initiatives in higher education—national 36 STI collaborative projects—international 36 UNESCO–African Union Strategic Partnership for STI 36 Partnerships for STI capacity building 37 Technology transfer and commercialization of innovations 41 Intellectual property and access and benefit-sharing issues in STI 41 Key messages and policy recommendations 43 CHAPTER 4 SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND INNOVATION CAPACITY GAPS 44 Inadequate institutional capacity 44 The brain drain 45 Shortage of critical technical skills 46 Excessive costs of higher education 46 Deficiencies in funding and research management 47 Low funding 48 Poor research management 48 Uncoordinated policy outcomes 49 Loose linkage for policy implementation 49 Outmoded governance for making, implementing, and monitoring policy 49 Incoherent policy at national, regional, and continental levels 50 iv AFRICA CAPACITY REPORT 2017 Stuttering research and development 51 Few scientific publications 51 Public R&D institutions: Behind the pack 52 National innovation systems 53 Key messages and policy recommendations 54 CHAPTER 5 SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND INNOVATION TRENDS, AND LESSONS AND SUCCESSES IN COUNTRY CASE STUDIES 56 Domestic expenditure on research and development 56 Institutional and human capital development 56 Successes (or otherwise) of STI policy 59 Ethiopia 59 Morocco 60 Nigeria 60 Rwanda 62 Zimbabwe 64 Tanzania 65 Partnerships and collaboration 67 STI capacity gains in higher education 68 Key messages and policy recommendations 70 CHAPTER 6 SUMMARY AND POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS 72 Summary 72 Policy recommendations 74 NOTES 77 STI ANNEXES 79 REFERENCES 92 TECHNICAL NOTE 98 AFRICA CAPACITY INDICATORS 105 COUNTRY PROFILES 111 COMPENDIUM OF STATISTICS 157 v AFRICA CAPACITY REPORT 2017 Boxes 1.1 ACBF support to countries with low capacity: The Central African Republic and Swaziland 21 3.1 The UK–Africa Academic Partnership on Chronic Disease 39 3.2 AfricanSNOWS 40 3.3 Resource-oriented sanitation concepts for peri-urban areas in Africa 41 3.4 UNESCO’s University-Industry-Science Partnership Programme 41 5.1 Ethiopia: Encouraging trends in R&D spending 57 5.2 Morocco increased its researchers, but kept its focus on social and human resources 58 5.3 Technical and vocational education and training in Ethiopia 59 5.4 Success: The Ethiopian Health Extension Program 60 5.5 Success at the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange 61 5.6 Disappointment in Ethiopia: Rainwater harvesting 63 5.7 Rwanda Innovation Endowment Fund 64 5.8 Success in Zimbabwe’s Chisumbanje Ethanol Project 66 5.9 A new maize seed variety in Zimbabwe: The Sirdamaize Project 66 5.10 Developing the next generation of African scientists and engineers 67 Figures O.1 Africa Capacity Index, 2016 4 1.1 Africa Capacity Index, 2016 17 1.2 Africa Capacity Index, 2015 and 2016 18 1.3 How did individual countries switch brackets in the Africa Capacity Index? 19 1.4 Africa Capacity Index, 2016, top performers by cluster 20 1.5 Africa Capacity Index, 2016, low performers by cluster 20 5.1 R&D researchers in selected countries, 2010–14 58 5.2 The role of STI in Rwanda’s Vision 2020 63 5.3 Zimbabwe’s science, engineering, technology, and innovation system 65 5.4 Technology graduates by gender in Ethiopia, 2008/09–2012/13 69 5.5 Enrollment in Zimbabwe’s tertiary education institutions, 2006–12 69 5.6 Government expenditure on science and technology, Zimbabwe, 2000–14 70 TN.1 ACR Team organogram 98 TN.2 Structure of the data collection instrument 102 Maps 1.1 Geographic Representation of Capacity levels, 2016 15 2.1 Global Innovation Index ranking, 2015 23 A.1 Geographical distribution of overall capacity (ACI) 106 A.2 Global Innovation Index ranking, 2015 107 vi AFRICA CAPACITY REPORT 2017 Tables O.1 Africa Capacity Index, 2016 3 O.2 Africa Capacity Index 2016, percentage of countries by bracket and cluster 5 1.1 Africa Capacity Index, 2016 16 1.2 Africa Capacity Index 2016, percentage of countries by bracket and cluster 18 1.3 Percentage of countries by level of thematic indices in 2016 19 2.1 Ranking of the top 500 universities in the world in 2015 26 2.2 Researchers in Africa per million inhabitants in 2013 or closest year 27 2.3 Percentage of women researchers in selected African countries 31 3.1 Summary of STISA-2024 priority areas 35 3.2 Patent applications, 2013 43 4.1 Monitoring and evaluation frameworks of some African national STI policies 50 4.2 Science and engineering publications of top African countries, the United States, and China, 2003 and 2013 52 A1 Global Innovation Index ranking for African countries, 2013, 2014, and 2015 79 A2 Network Readiness Index ranking, 2016 80 A3 Gross expenditure on research and development in Africa, 2011–14 81 A4 Tertiary enrollment by level of program in Africa, 2006 and 2012 or closest year 82 A5 Science and technology universities and higher education institutions in Africa 84 A6 Objectives and priorities of some African countries’ STI policies 88 A7 Publications from African countries, 1996–2015 90 TN.1 Countries covered by the study 100 A.1 ACI composite index by countries (in alphabetical order) 105 A.2 Cluster indices 108 A.3 Thematic indices 109 vii AFRICA CAPACITY REPORT 2017 FOREWORD African countries have shown their interest are not adequately staffed with skills and exper- and willingness to strive for science, technol- tise expertise, financial resources, infrastructural ogy, and innovation (STI)-led development capabilities, and equipment. Encouragingly, the in the coming years. African heads of state Report shows that it is possible to build STI and decisionmakers, through Agenda 2063 institutions and use them for socioeconomic and the Common African Position in Agenda transformation, with a good number of African 2030, have highlighted STI as a key enabler countries providing practical success stories promoting the ability of African countries to based on strategies and initiatives that can achieve their economic transformation and easily be adapted to other countries. development goals. This commitment was clearly expressed by the adoption of a 10-year Notably, despite the growing emphasis on the Science, Technology, and Innovation Strategy importance of STI for Africa’s development, for Africa (STISA-2024) in June 2014 at significant capacity bottlenecks still hinder the 23rd Ordinary Session of African Union countries from using STI in national develop- Heads of State and Government Summit. ment. Evidence suggests that African countries The strategy links science, technology, and lack specific human and institutional capac- innovation to Africa’s sustainable economic ities, critical technical skills, and resources to transformation. promote STI. To some extent, the capacity lag in STI is linked to the investment priorities of This Report shows that capacity in its various African countries, which have yet to convert dimensions, though improving, remains a their political commitments into practical problem for African economies generally, not programs for STI-based development.