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TECHNOLOGY PLANNING Workshop

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Title: TECHNOLOGY PLANNING Workshop


1
?? TECHNOLOGY PLANNING Workshop?? Nairobi,
24-27/02/2009 ROAD MAP for African countries
Technological Development
Dr.-Ing. Yves M. Lamour Consultant, Economic
Commission for Africa (UNECA) Executive
Director, Pan-African Institute for Technology
Development (PAITD)
2
1. Context of the endeavour
  • In the past four decades, our energies have been
    directed towards economic planning, assuming
    that economic planning would take care of all the
    variables necessary for facilitating growth and
    progressive economic change.
  • On the other hand, Development strategies have
    built on inadequate apprehensions of the economic
    system, and
  • Strategies have neglected the technological
    dimensions of development, so vital in modern
    technology-driven economies/consumer societies.
  • Thus need for Technology Planning

3
2. Failure of the rent economy and
development aid
  • Portfolio of promoted solutions since end of
    colonial rule
  • Trade
  • on an externally controlled market, at
    unfavourable terms, resulting in poor returns of
    rent economies
  • Development aid (bi/multilateral, international)
  • with the unfulfilled promise of trickle-down
    benefits, technology transfer and capacity
    building
  • IMFs Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAP)
  • Including privatisation of attractive national
    industrial assets, as condition for DC
    governments to access urgent loans
  • IMFs Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility
    (PRGF)
  • a slightly corrected version of SAP, paired with
    the Policy Support Instrument (PSI)
  • Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA)
  • the most recent trade policy framework of the
    member countries of the European Union (EU).
  • Foreign Direct Investments (FDI)
  • with variable results.

4
Logic of the failures Where do these
solutions come from?
  • Fundamentally, priorities and development
    solutions have been suggested or imposed by the
    West
  • Solutions have systematically focused on the use
    of Western resources (e.g. money, experts,
    know-how, equipment, etc.) not the development
    of African countries own capacities
  • ltgtgt Incapacitation of African
    societies!
  • Presently PRSP, MDG, privatisation,
  • What is their hidden agenda? They have one!

5
Missed opportunities in the rent economy
  • Opportunities through local/national/regional
    production
  • Employment and human resources development
  • Knowledge acquisition and development
  • Knowledge captured in local industries/society
  • National/regional capacitation cooperative
    development
  • Development of supporting (social/technological)
    structures
  • National/regional institutional development
  • Entrepreneurial development
  • Capital building
  • Reduction of wealth transfer out of the continent
  • Shifting of economic activity onto Africas
    regional markets
  • Strengthening of African economic operators.
  • gtgt Need for alternatives!

6
Difficulty of developing alternatives
  • ltgt We are thinking in a Box!
  • Goals and solutions are thought within an
    overtaken framework!
  • Box of established social, economic,
    organisational values and priorities, and of
    social and economic mechanisms, etc.
  • e.g. of possible/attainable, allowed or desirable
    concepts/goals and of affordable means
  • This framework serves the interests of the
    designer and controller
  • As a result, both the apprehension of the problem
    and the solution are often wrong, because thought
    of in such framework.
  • for instance, solutions generally focus on use of
    others resources
  • money, experts, know-how, equipment, etc.
  • Development is often seen as the adequate use
    of such categories of resources.
  •   gtgt Need for more effective development
    strategies !
  • Need for rethinking development with a less
    inhibited mindset!
  • e.g. rethinking development priorities,
    objectives and means.

7
Change management
  • Redefine priorities and objectives
  • Reframe actions
  • Overcome resistance
  • Obama Find the new drivers of the American
    economy!
  • What should be the drivers for African societies?

8
Reframing Africas crisis
  • Statement by Prof. A.M. Babu, Tanzania, London
    School of Economics
  • (integrates factors behind Africas economic
    stagnation)
  • Africans produce what they do not consume,
  • and consume what they do not produce.
  • i.e. Africas participation in world trade
    generally in most unfavourable terms.
  • ltgtgt Africas crisis is also expressed as
  • Dysfunctionality of African economies
  • Disabling dependence on development aid
  • Dependence on import of most basic commodities
  • food, medicine, clothing, furniture, cement,
    books
  • Threat to food security
  • Drainage of skilled human resources brain
    drain,

9
CHARACTERISING ALTERNATIVE STRATEGIES
  • Rationale for production and Import
    Substitution
  • Established with Babus statement. According to
    Prof. A.M. Babu
  • We need to reorder our economic priorities,
    and prioritise internal needs food, clothing
    and shelter
  • gradually shift away from poorly profitable
    trade in primary commodities, which deprives us
    from accumulating and investing for growth
  • develop our productive forces
  • In other words Development is empowerment!

10
Further characteristics of such economic
empowerment
  • Adapted to the reality of African countries
  • Labour-intensive, low-tech industrial production
  • to match present low level of local
    technology skilled labour
  • regional rather than national strategy
  • in the context of the development of African
    regional markets
  • Favourable framework of regional economic
    integration and cooperation ? e.g. ECOWAS, SADC,
    etc.
  • Right base for mutually supporting national
    industrial productions and successful
    implementation of import substitution.

11
Asian countries operationalisation strategy
  • Focus on developing national capacities
  • Goals/Targets
  • 1st Phase Import Substitution gt Focus on
    local market!
  • With development of low-technologies and on
    capacity building (building on the existing base)
  • 2nd Phase High-tech commodity Export
  • Development of high-technology capacities.
  • Leadership role of responsible and dedicated
    Governments
  • Strong cooperation between governments and the
    private sector.
  • Public-private-partnerships Instruments
    for driving technological adaptation and market
    development.

12
TECHNOLOGY PLANNING STRATEGY
  • Technology Planning should be part of Development
    Planning
  • Development needs to be understood and planned as
    socio-economic empowerment
  • Pragmatic approach to Technology Planning
  • Build on the the existing technological
    base
  • gtgt Research aspect should focus on
    developing adaptation strategies for known
    technologies

13
STEPS OF AN OUTCOME-BASED PLANNING
14
  • Identify desired outcomes/objectives
  • Identify/Determine activities/strategies
  • Identify needed/available resources
  • Identify Actors and determine their roles
  • Operationalise

15
3.1 IDENTIFYING DESIRED OUTCOMES
  • Activities has to be the result of a logical
    process
  • First things first
  • Build on what is there!
  • gtgt The direction of technological development in
    a country can only build on existing
    infrastructure, available HR, existing level of
    technology
  • Build/import capacities in planned development
    areas
  • Technological development viewed as organic
    growth
  • Constantly think next steps ahead, build
    complementarity gt Synergy
  • gt E.g. Build supportive capacities,
    clusters of connex initiatives Issue
    conducive/supportive policy, etc.

16
Procedere
  • Conduct an integrated situational analysis,
    including a Technological Production Capacity
    Assessment
  • An In-depth analysis of the various variables
    existing capacities, actors, development
    priorities, human resources development,
    research, enterprise/industrial development, ICT
    development, etc.
  • Rethink development priorities and goals
  • Set criteria for determining specific objectives
  • Set objectives/goals SWOT Analysis!

17
Priorities
  • First things first
  • Food security
  • Environmental protection
  • Employment
  • Infrastructure development (water, energy, roads,
    telecommunication, IT)
  • Economic empowerment!
  • Capital building

18
Objectives
  • Import substitution gtgt Improvement of
    import/export balance
  • Increase production/productivity
    (agricultural/food, artisanal and industrial)
  • gtgt Support enterprise development
  • gtgt Create employment (particularly for young
    people)
  • Build human resources capacity (in particular in
    technologies)
  • gtgt Develop training infrastructures
  • ( School, vocational training, university,
    research, )
  • Build knowledge management capacity including
    research
  • Develop industries (as first, agro-industries )
  • Reframe peoples mindset! (? cultural dimension
    of development)

19
Import Substitution gt Characteristics
  • Labour-intensive, low-tech industrial production
  • to match present low level of local
    technology skilled labour
  • Regional rather than national strategy
  • in the context of the development of
    African regional markets
  • Favourable framework of regional economic
    integration and cooperation ? e.g. ECOWAS, SADC,
    etc.
  • Right base for mutually supporting national
    industrial productions and successful
    implementation of import substitution.

20
3.2 DETERMINATION OF PLANNING ACTIVITIES
  • ltgtgt Criteria for the choice of activities
  • Needs
  • Available/accessible/developable resources
  • e.g. infrastructures, HR, financial resources,
    know-how,
  • Level of existing technical development

21
ltgtgt Criteria for the choice of activities
  • Needs
  • Available/accessible/developable resources
  • e.g. infrastructures, HR, financial resources,
    know-how,
  • Level of existing technical development

22
1. Production
  • Anticipated areas for production / and for R?D
  • a) Food security/ Food self-sufficiency
  • Water supply
  • Agriculture/Food production
  • Processing of agricultural products/Food.
  • b) Medicinal and Health products
  • Pharmaceutical production
  • Herbal/traditional medicine
  • Cosmetics/Hair skin care.
  • c) Environment Regenerative energy
    technologies
  • Solar technology (with polymers)
  • Biodiesel..?

23
  • d) Clothing and Furniture
  • Clothing/ Textile
  • Leather goods/ shoe sandals
  • Quality wooden furniture
  • e) Construction and household goods
  • Tools for agriculture construction
  • Household equipment/kitchen utensils
  • Plastics
  •  f) Information and communication technologies
    (ICT).

24
2. Enterprise development
  • Government support for setting of start-ups
  • But also for improving firms productivity
  • Problems Financing, Competitiveness,
  • Role of Banks
  • Advantageous Clusters/Industrial parks
  • Agriculture and the fishery industry
  • Food processing
  • Cameroon Programme for returnees/young
    entrepreneurs

25
3. Strategies for outward knowledge acquisition
(Knowledge management)
  • Academic training gt Problem time, access
  • Technology transfer
  • Financial procurement (license, )
  • Research
  • (Industrial espionage)
  • Towards a systematic approach PAITD
  • Resource Centre (knowledge acquisition/management)
  • Project with ECA State of Africas Production
  • Identification of potentials
  • Conduct of preliminary feasibility studies

26
4. Capacity building
  • Formal education, academic training, specialised
    training
  • Korea! gt vocational strengthen the base (for
    production)
  • Capacity building on the job In-service
    training
  • Can the African Diaspora help?
  • Brain drain Extent and impact on African
    economies
  • Overcoming brain drain A scale issue?
  •  
  • Accent on vocational training / Practicals
    (Gov., NGOs, private sector)
  • Potential areas of activity
  • Food processing
  • Furniture
  • Civil engineering construction
  • Sanitation
  • Car mechanics
  • Solar technology

27
5. Research (Knowledge management)
  • Museveni Need for RD in Africa
  • But research should be result-oriented!
  • Prerequisites for research at national level
  • Equipped academic centres
  • Skilled human resources
  • Financial resources
  • Cooperation Regional/universities/research
    institutions/
  • Research coordination
  • Publications
  • Capacity Repatriation of Diasporan Africans?
  • Determining areas of research and follow up
  • Market-driven/Needs
  • UNECA/PAITD Project The State of Productive
    Africa
  • Issue Financing research.

28
3.3 IDENTIFYING NEEDED/AVAILABLE RESOURCES
  • Constraints to Africas economic development
  • Unfavourable terms of trade in the rent economy
  • Chronic indebtedness
  • Dependence on aid and external priorities
  • Dependence on IMFs conditions, etc.
  • Lack of capital
  • Market
  • Price competitiveness
  • Lack of skilled human resources/ Brain drain
  • Lack of know-how
  • Lack of a culture of production
  • gtgt Missed development of supportive structures
  • Limited commitment towards the wider community/
    Corruption
  • Inadequate use of personal resources
  • Extended family-Syndrome! gtgt Reduced
    savings!

29
Resources overview
  • Government budget
  • Financial institutions (banks, insurance co., )
  • Private sector assets (knowledge, HR, equipment,
    )
  • FDI
  • HR Capacity Building Institutions
  • Research institutions
  • Other Institutions which acquire and disseminate
    knowledge
  • Regional markets
  • Diasporan African resources

30
Brain drain
  • Growing demand and competition for talent in OECD
    countries
  • Migration of African intellectual capital
  • Migration of Africans with only primary education
    is almost nil
  • More than 21 000 Nigerian doctors practicing in
    the United States alone
  • Since 1990, the highly educated Diaspora of
    developing countries has doubled in size.
  • Rate for graduates in science and technology is
    the highest.
  • Case Graduates of the elite Indian IITs living
    abroad ranged from 20 to 30 in the 1980s and
    1990s.
  • International Organisation for Migration (IOM)
    estimates
  • Some 300 000 professionals from the African
    continent live and work in Europe and North
    America.

31
Consequences of brain drain for African
economies
  • Loss in investment by governments
  • Lower capacity of Public Administration
  • Insufficient capacity of training institutions
  • Hindrance to industrial development
  • Migration of qualified labour reflects negatively
    on its investment climate.

32
Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) A critical
look
  • Context of poor dynamics of immature African
    markets
  • Governments set infrastructural and incentive
    framework for attracting foreign capital
  • Means of financing projects, creating employment,
    and providing the motor for African societies
    development
  • In other words, others should come and
    stimulate development
  • However, generally no structured plan for
  • step-by-step HR capacity building
  • Transfer of know-how
  • Consolidated development of local resources
  • Import substitution.

33
  • Fact is however
  • Foreign investors want quick wins in risky
    business in Africa
  • They do not readily invest in countries
    industrial development
  • They generally go for unproductive areas with
    minimum commitments to HR development and
    employment.
  • Most avoid technology transfer to maintain market
    control.
  • Besides, FDI do not cause local capital building
  • FDI result in massive dividend transfers out of
    Africa
  • FDI can constitute dis-incentives to local
    enterprises, as foreign companies are generally
    given costs, tax and market advantages over local
    investors.
  • Thus, FDI should be implemented only in
    well-studied cases
  • when real gains are expected
  • for instance tapping targeted knowledge from
    hosted companies (China, Japan, Singapore)
  • substantial employment and human resources
    development.

34
Development of African regional markets and
South/South cooperation
  • Production ventures better planned at regional
    rather than national level
  • African regional markets
  • mutually supporting local industrial
    production and employment
  • Problem of competitiveness!
  • Regional economic integration ? e.g. ECOWAS,
    SADC, etc.
  • favourable framework for mutually supporting
    national industrial productions and for
    successfully implementing import substitution
    strategies
  • (making use of availability of human and natural
    resources, advantages of regional specialisation,
    effects of scale, etc.)

35
Mobilisation of African human resources in the
Diaspora
  • Technical assistance programmes
  • Temporary involvement of highly skilled African
    Diasporan HR
  • in technical assistance programmes (brain
    circulation)
  • Support to research
  • Support to capacity building (universities,
    vocational training, )
  • Assistance in conceptualising industrial
    production ventures
  • Coaching start-ups
  • Advising in national/regional task force boards.
  •  
  • Repatriation strategies
  • areas where permanent strengthening of African
    economies and institutions is wanted, and where
    permanent investments are planned.
  • Ideally designed in conjunction with African
    regional and national bodies
  • as components of mature industrial development
    strategies.

36
Mobilisation of African financial resources in
the Diaspora
  • The magnitude of remittances now brings a new
    dimension into African economies
  • Transfers to African countries, estimated to US
    70 billion in 2006
  • Transfers surpass by far development aid from
    Northern countries
  • Remittance amounts are expected to steadily and
    significantly increase in the next decades.
  • However, remittances are not sufficiently
    channelled towards financing production ventures
    in Africa
  • More the case in Asia!

37
3.4 OPERATIONALISATION
  • Sequence activities logically / Building blocks
    approach/ Create synergies gt Capacity building
  • Prepare Operationalisation Plans for identified
    key strategic projects/activities including
    production strategies/projects strategies for
    capacity building/HR development research
    strategies for strengthening production capacity
    and supporting marketing of local products quick
    monitoring/evaluation adjustment strategies,
    etc.
  • Plan expansion and diversification of
    activities together with development of
    capacities
  • Define timescales
  • Schedule and assign resources
  • Set up a sensible and flexible ME and Adjustment
    system
  • Examine critical issues risk analysis, gender
    considerations/impact, cultural considerations,
    work ethics/habits and community mobilisation,
    etc.

38
Roles of the various stakeholders/ Actors
  • Government
  • Business sector
  • Civil society organisations/ motivated
    Individuals
  • Public-private-partnerships
  • African Diaspora
  • African regional institutions
  • International organisations
  • AU/UNECA

39
1. Role of Governments
  • Establish adequate/Improve infrastructure
  • Develop policies/provide incentives for
  • supporting local enterprise development
  • protecting local production
  • attracting interesting foreign enterprises (in
    targeted areas)
  • supporting employment
  • supporting capacity building
  • supporting result-oriented research
  • Create incentive packages to attract/maintain HR
    in key areas
  • Stimulate the formation of PPPs, when
    advantageous

40
2. Role of the Private Sector
  • Invest in local production
  • Support capacity building e.g. in-service
    training
  • Participation in infrastructure development
  • Activate government support
  • Supportive Bank policies

41
3. Role of Public-Private-Partnerships (PPP)
  • Generally instigated by Governments
  • Two main types
  • services providers (PPP1)
  • support to industrial development (PPP2)
  • Forms of the latter (PPP2)
  • Champions (Korea)
  • Clusters of industrial companies (Singapore)
  • Cooperation with technical universities/research
    centres
  • Young entrepreneurs Fora, etc

42
Purposes of PPP2
  • Platform for governments to know problems of
    industries
  • For support with relevant/effective
    policies/strategies
  • Avoid destructive inner competition
  • Instead, creation of a framework for mutually
    profitable cooperation
  • e.g. planning of foreign market penetration
  • encourage win-win sharing of technological
    knowledge
  • sharing of technological resources, reducing
    costs
  • Entrepreneurs Fora
  • Discuss problems/constraints, needs, requests
    to government
  • Pool resources
  • Design common strategies
  • Cluster of complementary industries/sharing
    resources
  • Involve banks and relevant research institutions
  • Consortium Industry-Scientists-Banks-/Diaspo
    ra.

43
4. African regional cooperation
  • Operationalise Technology Planning Strategy in
    cooperation with ECA
  • Support regionalisation of technical cooperation
    and market integration

44
5. Role/Importance of the Diaspora
  • Example ISRAEL
  • Diaspora is everything
  • Remittances, political support, technology
    transfer
  • Example INDIA
  • Diaspora contributes to over 25 of GNP
  • Transfer of knowledge
  • Investments in technology sector
  • AFRICA
  • Remittances around US 70 billion/year
  • Mostly to improve living conditions of family in
    home country
  • Investments in Trade and Real estate
    (gtrent/retirement)
  • Limited contribution to investment in production

45
6. Role of AU/UNECA
  • Contribute to a vision of change
  • Develop a strategies for action (and performance
    measurement/ adjustment) in cooperation with
    conducive institutions
  • Advocate/Disseminate strategies and good
    practices
  • Assist governments/policy makers in
    operationalising Technology Planning
    Strategy/Framework
  • Set a platform for cooperation between
    Governments and non-state actors.
  • Eventually, provide assistance to regional
    initiatives in
  • Knowledge management/Research
  • Capacity building
  • ICT
  • Diasporan resources mobilisation 

46
CONCLUDING REMARKS
  • Technology Planning alone is not the solution to
    African countries problem(s)
  • Socio-economic dimension of technological
    development
  • Socio-cultural dimension of technological
    development gt resistances, mindset
  • How serious are we about African development?
    Axelle Kaboue Fire fighting Power games and
    corruption Europe/West now China
  • ltgtgt Responsibility of development

47
How is it that Africa is behind, and has not
achieved what the Asians have done?
  • Do we really want development?
  • How do we understand development?
  • Do we believe that we can do it? And are we
    ready to pay the price?
  • Is anything stopping us?
  • How do we overcome this resistance to change?
  • We need to stop excusing or even praise our poor
    performances
  • We need and should strive to control our lives,
  • and be great.
  • We can do it!
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