South Africa's Innovation Dilemma: Can It Catch Up with BRICS Counterparts?

South Africa, as one of the BRICS nations, is grappling with its National System of Innovation (NSI). While the country has made some progress, it lags behind its fellow BRICS countries in several key areas. This op-ed will explore South Africa’s NSI performance, compare it to other middle-income nations, and discuss potential policy recommendations to foster a more robust innovation landscape.

South Africa’s NSI Inputs and Outputs

According to the Department of Science and Technology (2012), South Africa’s NSI inputs include expenditures on R&D (GERD), business expenditure on R&D (BERD), and the number of researchers. Outputs consist of intellectual property, publications, and the share of industries and activities as a percentage of GDP.

In 2012, South Africa’s GERD was 0.76% of GDP (World Bank, 2021), far below the target of 1.5% set by the government. The country has also struggled to increase its researcher base, with only 1.7 researchers per 1,000 employed individuals (World Bank, 2021).

On the output side, South Africa’s patent filings have increased, but its share of global patents remains low at 0.12% (WIPO, 2021). The country has also fallen short in producing scientific publications, with only 1,719 publications per million people (World Bank, 2021).

Comparing South Africa to BRICS Counterparts

South Africa’s R&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP is significantly lower than that of its fellow BRICS nations. In 2019, Brazil’s R&D expenditure stood at 1.26% of GDP, Russia’s at 1.11%, India’s at 0.91%, and China’s at 2.19% (World Bank, 2021). Similarly, South Africa’s researcher density falls behind Brazil (2.9 researchers per 1,000 employed individuals), Russia (3.1), India (2.5), and China (2.2) (World Bank, 2021).

In terms of patent filings, South Africa’s 0.12% share of global patents pales in comparison to China’s 48.3%, India’s 1.4%, Russia’s 1.3%, and Brazil’s 0.4% (WIPO, 2021). Furthermore, the number of scientific publications per million people in South Africa (1,719) is significantly lower than that of Russia (4,547), Brazil (3,460), India (2,682), and China (6,754) (World Bank, 2021).

Policy Recommendations

To boost South Africa’s NSI performance, the government should consider the following policy recommendations:

1. Increase R&D expenditure: Aim to reach the 1.5% of GDP target set by the government, and encourage private sector investment in R&D.
2. Improve researcher capacity: Invest in education and training programs to increase the number of researchers and ensure a skilled workforce.
3. Enhance collaboration: Foster greater cooperation between academia, government, and industry to stimulate innovation and technology transfer.
4. Strengthen intellectual property protection: Encourage innovation by ensuring a robust intellectual property regime that protects the rights of inventors and promotes technology diffusion.
5. Facilitate access to funding: Establish innovation funds and grants to support early-stage startups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in technology-driven sectors.

References:

Department of Science and Technology. (2012). South Africa’s National System of Innovation (NSI). Retrieved from https://www.dst.gov.za/images/Attachments/NSI.pdf

World Bank. (2021). Research and development expenditure (% of GDP). Retrieved from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/GB.XPD.RSDV.GD.ZS

World Bank. (2021). Researchers in R&D (per million people). Retrieved from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.SCIE.RD.P6

World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). (2021). World Intellectual Property Indicators 2021. Retrieved from https://www.wipo.int/publications/en/details.jsp?id=4528

World Bank. (2021). Scientific and technical journal articles. Retrieved from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IP.JRN.ARTC.SC