Calestous Juma

Prof. Calestous Juma, Director of the Science, Technology, and Globalization Project at Harvard University, presented a highly interactive seminar on the theme: "Reinventing Growth: Technological Innovation and Economic Revival in Africa". The professor perceived an opportunity for Africa’s sustainable development through a new conceptual framework, which defines the region as more of a learning entity, and less of a desperate emergency case requiring dole-outs and other temporary relief measures. He based his position on the contemporary history of new emerging economies whose development successes are explained by national emphasis on scientific knowledge, and their ability to improve on socio-economic development performances through technological innovations and adaptation.

He demonstrated that the further a country is from the frontier of research, the larger the legacy of inheritable knowledge. A good understanding of factors helping the domestication of available scientific knowledge is critical to the continent’s development progress. For most African countries, the challenge therefore is to recast their existing policies which seek to catch up technologically with advanced economies. He emphasized that they should rather perceive technology in acquisitive and adaptive terms.

He underscored that for Africa to achieve sustainable economic revival and strengthen its development performance, considerable investment in the continent’s capacity to harness, utilize and generate useable scientific and technological knowledge was an urgent imperative. He urged governments to muster the political will to put in place reliable policies that are capable of strengthening technology and science institutions, as well as promoting professional engineering practice and expertise in local repairs and maintenance.