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Putting Africa First:
The Making of African Innovation Systems
Mammo Muchie, Peter Gammeltoft, and Bengt-Åke Lundvall (Eds.) |
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expression ‘national systems of innovation’ was introduced in the 1980s
to emphasise the interdependence between technical and institutional
change. For many reasons, the work on Africa is especially important.
No continent has a more complex pattern of national boundaries or of
ethnic, religious and tribal sub-systems, interacting with sectoral
systems. Therefore to understand the patterns of existing innovation
systems, and their limitations and to devise ways to deliver much
greater benefits to all the peoples of Africa is a fundamental need for
the continent. Especially at this time of global economic instability,
this work is needed more than ever to ‘put the last first’ and to
protect science and education from inept and misdirected programmes of
‘structural adjustment’. Then the stone that the builders rejected may
indeed become the cornerstone of the arch.
– Christopher Freeman
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The prevalence and persistence of conflict, poverty and poor governance on the African continent is widely considered to be the most urgent global development issue today.
However, both internationally and on the continent itself the resolve
to engage with these issues appears greater than it has been for
decades: the international community has come together around the
Millennium Development Goals and pledged to halve world poverty by 2015
and in Africa itself the newly formed African Union and New Partnership
for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) hold the promise of stronger and more
synergetic collaboration between African nations.
But for virtuous circles towards stability, democratisation and
economic development to take root more than resolve is called for: efforts
need to be guided by careful and theoretically informed empirical analyses to be effective.
This book brings together a selection of original contributions, which
analyse African economic issues within the theoretical framework of
‘innovation systems’.
With its combination of conceptual, policy oriented, empirical, and
cross-regional analyses this book appeals to scholars, policy
makers, and development practitioners along with other students of
African economic affairs. |
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Contributors:
Bengt-Åke Lundvall
Christopher Freeman
Sanjaya Lall
Alice H. Amsden
Lynn K. Mytelka
Mark Tomlinson
Björn Johnson
John Kuada
Lobna Abdel-Latif
Jens Müller
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Mammo Muchie
Sunil Mani
Carlo Pietrobelli
Andrew Jamison
Pernille Bertelsen
Angathevar Baskaran
Gillian Marcelle
Lou Anne Barclay
Hyun-Dae Cho
Tidings P. Ndhlovu
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Peter Gammeltoft
Shulin Gu
Olav Jull Sørensen
Banji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka
Samuel Wangwe
Mona Dahms
Abdelkader Djeflat
Mario Scerri
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To order the book,
click here.
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