Innovation under the Radar The Nature and Sources of Innovation in Africa

Investigating the nature, drivers and sources of innovation in Africa, this book examines the channels for effective diffusion of innovation in and to Africa under institutional, resource and affordability constraints. Fu draws on almost a decade of research on innovation in Africa to explore these issues and unpack the process, combining a rigorous statistical analysis of a purposely designed multi-wave, multi-country survey with in-depth studies of representative cases. Building on this research, Fu argues that African firms are innovative but unsupported. Those 'under-the-radar' innovations that widely exist in Africa as a result of the constraints are not sufficient to enable Africa to leapfrog the innovation gap in the era of the fourth Industrial Revolution. This is the first comprehensive analysis of the creation and diffusion of innovation in low income countries. It also provides the first survey-based analysis of innovation in the informal economy.

Foreword Luc Soete; 1. Introduction; 2. Innovation in Low Income Countries: Received Wisdom; 3. The Economy of Ghana and Tanzania: An Overview; Part I. The Nature and Domestic Sources of Innovation in Africa: 4. Innovation under the Radar as a Response to Constraints: The Nature of Innovation in Africa (with Giacommo Zanello); 5. Open Innovation as a Response to Constraints and Risks: The Role of Collaboration, Universities, Clusters and Value Chains; 6. Innovation and Growth of African Firms: Survival and Growth; 7. Women Entrepreneurs and Innovation (with Mammo Muchie and Abiodun Egbetokun); 8. The Role of the State in Innovation in Africa (with George Essegbey and Bitrina Diyamett); Part II. The Diffusion of Foreign Innovation into Africa: 9. The Diffusion of Foreign Innovation to Africa: The Role of Trade, MNEs and Diasporas; 10. Social Networks and Knowledge Diffusion within MNE Subsidiaries; Part III. Emerging Technologies and Innovation in Africa: 11. ICT Adoption and Innovation (with Jun Hou); 12. The Diffusion and Adoption of Digital Finance Innovation in Africa (with Anne Kingiri); 13. Opportunities and Challenges of 4th Industrial Revolution for Africa; 14. Conclusions: Can Africa Leap Frog the Innovation Gap?

Xiaolan Fu is the Founding Director of the Technology and Management Centre for Development, Professor of Technology and International Development at the University of Oxford. She led the DFID/ESRC research on 'Diffusion of Innovation in Low-income countries', and is appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations to the Governing Council of the Technology Bank and the High-Level Advisory Group of the Technology Facilitation Mechanism for sustainable development.