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Growing technology and innovation in Sub-Saharan Africa through Business Innovation Centres: Case study of Ghana

Bayuo, Blaise LU (2017) EKHS31 20171
Department of Economic History
Abstract
Bridging the technological innovation gap in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is a concern to governments and development partners. Investments in programmes that will facilitate the diffusion of technology into the public and private sectors have been pursued over the past two
decades. Yet, SSA still lags behind in reaping the digital dividend of technology. This study looks at the role of Business Innovation Centres, as innovation actors, in helping grow indigenous technology firms to solve local problems. Using Ghana as a case study, the study adopted the innovation system approach to assess how BICs are helping technology startups grow in SSA. Six (6) BICs and their startups were interviewed to understand the innovation actors and how they... (More)
Bridging the technological innovation gap in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is a concern to governments and development partners. Investments in programmes that will facilitate the diffusion of technology into the public and private sectors have been pursued over the past two
decades. Yet, SSA still lags behind in reaping the digital dividend of technology. This study looks at the role of Business Innovation Centres, as innovation actors, in helping grow indigenous technology firms to solve local problems. Using Ghana as a case study, the study adopted the innovation system approach to assess how BICs are helping technology startups grow in SSA. Six (6) BICs and their startups were interviewed to understand the innovation actors and how they coordinate to facilitate knowledge transfer to startups. The study found that BICs play three core roles in the innovation system: knowledge transfer, innovation finance and building networks and partnerships to benefit startups. In spite of the efforts of BICs, poor coordination from other stakeholders such as government, TNCs and universities blunts the efforts of BICs in spearheading technological innovation and growth. BICs therefore, have stronger relationship with global innovation partners than they do locally. Thus, while BICs have the potential to spur technological innovation they are constrained by systemic innovation bottlenecks common to most developing countries. (Less)
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author
Bayuo, Blaise LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
Growing digital technology and innovation in Sub-Saharan Africa through Business Innovation Centres: Case study of Ghana
course
EKHS31 20171
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Innovation, technology incubators, Sub-Saharan Africa, startups, innovation systems.
language
English
id
8916142
date added to LUP
2017-09-04 13:02:42
date last changed
2017-09-04 13:02:42
@misc{8916142,
  abstract     = {{Bridging the technological innovation gap in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is a concern to governments and development partners. Investments in programmes that will facilitate the diffusion of technology into the public and private sectors have been pursued over the past two
decades. Yet, SSA still lags behind in reaping the digital dividend of technology. This study looks at the role of Business Innovation Centres, as innovation actors, in helping grow indigenous technology firms to solve local problems. Using Ghana as a case study, the study adopted the innovation system approach to assess how BICs are helping technology startups grow in SSA. Six (6) BICs and their startups were interviewed to understand the innovation actors and how they coordinate to facilitate knowledge transfer to startups. The study found that BICs play three core roles in the innovation system: knowledge transfer, innovation finance and building networks and partnerships to benefit startups. In spite of the efforts of BICs, poor coordination from other stakeholders such as government, TNCs and universities blunts the efforts of BICs in spearheading technological innovation and growth. BICs therefore, have stronger relationship with global innovation partners than they do locally. Thus, while BICs have the potential to spur technological innovation they are constrained by systemic innovation bottlenecks common to most developing countries.}},
  author       = {{Bayuo, Blaise}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Growing technology and innovation in Sub-Saharan Africa through Business Innovation Centres: Case study of Ghana}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}