IDENTIFYING THE AFRICAN KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY
Mtem Dooyum Stephenie ACA
Finance and Tax Analyst
Abuja
In case you are wondering what knowledge economy means, Walter W. Powell and Kaisa Snellman of Stanford University have defined knowledge economy as production and services based on knowledge-intensive activities that contribute to an accelerated pace of technical and scientific advance, as well as rapid obsolescence. For the developed countries, Scholars have argued that the leading edge of the economy has become driven by technologies based on knowledge and information production and dissemination. These new technologies which emerged in the late 1950s have considerably shifted the nature of work and the economy at large, we no longer go online, we live online.
The ‘knowledge economy’ of Nigeria and Africa at large must be analyzed in relation to intellectual property and to creative concepts drawn from aesthetics. Intellectual property is a tool that can improve the fortunes of Africa’s SMEs, more so that they are the highest generators of employment. The identity of the African Knowledge Economy is based therefore on if Africa has fully embraced knowledge as a major tool in improving its economy and are aggressively investing in it or if it is still lagging behind while most continents are in pursuit of knowledge based economies.
For a second it would seem that most of Africa was left behind as the world went through the first, second, and third industrial revolutions. Africa – a continent of over 1.2 billion people, with 70% throbbing, energetic and hardworking young population. Is there any justification for Africa not to only be part of the fourth industrial revolution but even more importantly, lead it? Will the ever elusive potential be realized?
On a more positive note, a number of African governments Nigeria inclusive have improved their national patent legislation recently. Kenya, for example, established a National Innovation Agency in 2013 to facilitate science, technology and innovation, help local institutions file patent applications and take legal action if intellectual property rights are infringed.
Similarly, the Nigerian Government in securing the intellectual content in the development of her Oil and gas industry enacted the Nigerian Oil and Gas Content Development Act 2010 thus establishing the Nigerian Content Monitoring Development Board with its headquarters office in Yenogoa, Bayelsa to monitor the Nigerian industrial intellectual content in the oil and gas industry.
Mr. Adebayo Shittu, a Former Minister of Communications, said that information and communication Technology was the critical driver of the knowledge-based economy of our time during the foundation laying ceremony of the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS’s) Information Technology Innovation Centre in Lagos. Similarly, Prof. Aderoumu, Past President, Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), opined that the Information Technology Innovation Centre was designed to focus on addressing the weak university/industry linkage. He further noted that a recent World Bank appraisal concluded that the weak university/industry linkage in Nigeria was the greatest impediment to development.
On a regional level, the African Union, under the stewardship and vision of the distinguished scientist Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma before her replacement by Chadian Foreign Minister Moussa Faki, all threw its support behind the concept of a Pan-African Intellectual Property Organization adopted in 2016 with the determination to promote a development oriented intellectual property system in line with the objectives of the Union.
Yet, outside major businesses and multinationals, awareness of and access to intellectual property rights remain poor. As an estimate over 11 million young Africans are yet to enter the job market each year over the next decade. To unlock this ugly trend, in 2013, Microsoft launched the 4Afrika Initiative, which invests in technology for economic development on the continent by funding start-ups and other activities. This includes a new 4Afrika IP Hub in Kenya, an online portal that aims to help young innovators better understand different methods for protecting their software so they can enjoy the economic benefits of their creations. The hub features several online learning modules that provide a general introduction to IP and innovation, alongside additional commercialization strategies. It also gives early-stage developers the opportunity to register their software applications, safeguarding them from future exploitation.
These giant steps taken so far are a journey close to having a robust African Economy based on knowledge because to truly benefit from intellectual property a business possesses, it is vital that a business understand its worth.
In conclusion, as Africa continues to strive to move from a resource-led development path to one underpinned by intellectual skills, knowledge and innovation, raising awareness about the value of intellectual property and providing easy access to that system will become ever more important which is crucial if Africa’s young people are to find their rightful place in the global economy. “Light up the light of knowledge and the darkness of ignorance will disappear”.
