The National Centre for Technology Management (NACETEM) yesterday said Nigeria was weak on innovation stressing the need for more investment in science, technology and innovation (STI).
Its Director-General, Prof. Okechukwu Ukwoma, who spoke while unveiling the 2020 National Business Innovation Survey undertaken to measure the state of innovation in the country’s manufacturing and service sectors, said the survey showed that the country’s innovation system was too weak to support sustainable economic growth.
He said science and technology could only have a meaningful impact on socio-economic transformation of countries if it could influence the processes of development and birth of new products to the market.
Prof Ukwoma said the experience of developing countries shows that integrating STI policies into the national development strategies and enacting institutional reforms offer the pathway for increased productivity and competitiveness.
He identified weak absorptive capacity of firms to identify, acquire and adapt foreign innovations; weak industry-academia linkage; inability to refocus foreign direct investment (FDI) and technology transfer to stimulate innovation; limited access of firms to skilled workers; weak technology-related infrastructure and inadequate intellectual property rights regimes are issues that have hindered the implementation of innovations in firms.
He called for policies to address these issues, expressing optimism that this would hasten economic growth and job creation.
“One of the ways this can be tackled is by regularly developing indicators on a time series basis with the aim of assisting in evaluating the performance of the innovation system in Nigeria, track progress and make projections for future trajectory of the system. This will assist in strategic planning and monitoring the state of innovativeness and competitiveness of Nigerian firms,” Prof Ukwoma said.
Its Assistant Director, Research, Dr. Abiodun Egbetokun urged state governments to create Ministry of Science and Technology to support the Federal Government’s drive and address the gap in innovation.
