Africa can win the future, stay relevant by investing in research

Over the past few weeks, I have been writing about the need to be relevant and how nothing—not even intelligence, deep pockets or charisma—can save us from the tsunami called irrelevance.

The consistently relevant—be they companies, nations or individuals—have one thing in common: They understand trends and so the future never catches them unawares.

For example in the 1960s, the race was for the moon. How come some nations saw this at the time and others did not? What is it that nations and organisations that are winning the future have in common?

According to the Unesco Institute of Statistics, global spending on research and development has reached a record high of almost $1.7 trillion.

About 10 countries account for 80 per cent of spending. Let us look at a few of these countries.

The US spends 2.7 per cent of its GDP on research and development with the business sector taking the lead followed by government, universities and private non-profit entities.

The number of researchers per million inhabitants stands at 4,217.

China on the other hand spends two per cent of its GDP on research and development.

Again, when it comes to sector spending, the investment by businesses dwarfs that of government just like it is in the US, and the number of researchers per million inhabitants stands at 1,096.

If we consider the sheer size of the Chinese population of about $1.4 billion people, then we will appreciate how many researchers they have as a nation.

Japan spends 3.4 per cent of its GDP on research and development. In sector spending again, business investment which stands at $131 billion dwarfs that by government which stands at $14 billion, that by universities at $21 billion and private non-profit organisations at $2.7 billion.

Japan has 5,328 researchers per million inhabitants. This is huge considering the country’s population size of 126 million.

The Republic of Korea spends 4.3 per cent of its GDP on research and development.

When it comes to sector spending, business again leads the way at more than $57 billion, while government follows with $8 billion and universities with $6.6 billion, while private non-profit organisations spend $1.1 billion.

The number of researchers per million inhabitants stands at 6,856. For a nation with a population of 51.4 million this is also huge.

This trend applies in most countries in the developed world.

Businesses lead the research and development spending. Universities play a significant role while the role of government is largely one of a regulator. How much of the technology that drives our world today was developed by governments? A very insignificant per cent.

Let us now come to Africa, starting with Nigeria, the (in)famous giant. The country spends 0.2 per cent of its GDP on research and development. Unlike developed countries where we saw businesses leading the research and development drive, in Nigeria it was led by the universities followed by the government.

The country has 38 researchers per million inhabitants.

Zambia spends 0.3 per cent of its GDP on research and development and the drive is led by private non-profit organisations, followed by universities and then the government. The number of researchers per million inhabitants is 40.

Uganda spends 0.2 per cent of its GDP on research and development and the research drive is led by government and universities. The number of researchers per million inhabitants stands at 26.

Kenya on the other hand spends 0.8 per cent of its GDP on research and development and the drive is led by government, universities and private, non-profit organisations. The number of researchers per million inhabitants stands at 225.

It appears that the higher the number of researchers per million inhabitants, the more progressive the nation seems to be.

Data from the number of researchers per million inhabitants seems to suggest that the future belongs to societies where research is a premium profession.

As a continent, if we cannot get more people researching into the future for the sake of solving the problems of the future, we will be frozen in the present and swept away by the tsunami or irrelevance.

Nations that do not have a research and development culture will live in a future created by those who have.

We must never forget that the present was the future that was predicted and created by some yesterday.

The future we will live tomorrow will be predicted and created by those who have invested in research for development and not just in knowledge for the sake of knowledge. Research that leads to solutions is at the core of nations that remain relevant.