Nigeria now dumping ground for obsolete technologies – NACETEM

Nigeria has become recipient of obsolete and misfit technologies, a research carried out by the National Centre for Technology Management (NACETEM) reveals.

NACETEM is an agency of Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Science and Technology that provides critical knowledge support in the area of science, technology, innovation management for sustainable development.

In a report made available to journalists in Abuja, the centre said the development is due to the reliance of the country’s manufacturing and service firms on imported technologies.

Speaking on the issue, an Assistant Director of Research in NACETEM, Dr. Abiodun Egbetokun, said the survey was jointly carried out by NACETEM and the Centre for Innovation Indicators (CesTII) at the South Africa’s Human Sciences Research Council.

He said the research focused on the innovation performances of Nigeria and South Africa and how the productive sector of the economies of both countries fare particularly, in relation to the creation and application of knowledge.

Egbetokun said findings revealed that both countries use technology acquisition as the key innovation strategy, but South Africa used more technology in the manufacturing sector than Nigeria.

“We compared innovation in manufacturing between both countries; we found a slightly higher rate of innovation in South Africa than in Nigeria.

“But, firms in both countries rely on technology acquisition (that is, the purchase of embodied technology through machinery, equipment and software) to innovate.

“In the specific case of Nigeria, most of the technology is imported. In the comparison of service firms, the difference in innovation rates between both countries is not noticeable.

“While Nigerian service firms still rely on technology imports, South African firms emphasise staff training as the main innovation strategy,’’ he said.

The director said both countries use technology acquisition as key innovation strategy to improve the quantity and quality of their value propositions, adding that the two countries face critical financial and other barriers to innovation.

On the services sector, the official said the two countries used training and technology acquisition as key innovation strategies to improve the quantity and quality of their proposition.

According to him, the findings of the research show that the Gross Domestic Products (GDPs) of the two countries have stalled in recent years.

The director said there are several reasons why GDP growth rates can be stalled, but the most plausible in the case of both Nigeria and South Africa is what economists term the “middle income trap.

This happens when a country grows rapidly and attains middle income status, but is unable to grow beyond that status.

“Often, what drives the pre-middle-income growth is connected to specific advantages that the country has, for instance in the export market for primary commodities (in the case of Nigeria, crude oil and in South Africa, gold).

“Due to local wage increases that accompany middle income status, the country tends to become less competitive in the export market and is, at the same time, unable to compete with more advanced countries in the market for finished goods. That is the story of Nigeria and South Africa.

“Currently, both countries grapple with poor domestic labour market conditions, evidenced by incessant wage increases, worker protests, large share of workforce in indecent employment, etc among other characteristic middle income trap problems,’’ he said. (NAN)