Botswana is eons behind in the development of a true research philosophy. Although the challenge of turning research into commercial products is an arduous and multiplex road with many drawbacks, this is nonetheless a worthy priority of the Botswana Government’s innovation agenda.
In science, there is a motto, “publish or perish”, which is a measure of how we define success – simply the number of papers you publish in journals. So, if you don’t publish enough, then you will struggle to find research funds. However, today, perhaps we now have a new motto, “innovate or perish”, a motto that could be shared with the nation of Botswana.
Innovation has become central in Botswana’s context because it is part of the solution to address the high unemployment crisis. There is no doubt that the youth have high expectations from the government especially with regards to employment creation. For a long time, unemployment has been a scourge threatening to disturb the national serene environment in the nation. Generally, the output of an economy can be increased in two ways 1) you can increase the number of inputs that go into the productive process, or (2) if you are clever, you can think of new ways in which you can get more output from the same number of inputs.
Among other things, the recent 2016/17 budget failed to direct a significant portion of finances to innovation. But the question of how to pay for the expensive package remains, and the Government’s effort to “inspire” a new, more entrepreneurial business culture will fall short without fundamental funding to go with it. Failure to provide a significant portion of the financial budget pie was a setback considering the fact that Botswana should be careful of making big picture statements that are short on tactics. If innovation is at the centre of the Botswana strategy as the minister says, then there has to be solid policies to support his statements Top innovators and their ideas have to be kept in Botswana so that brain drain can be turned into brain gain. Many African countries, Botswana included, have lost citizens to other countries which lure them due to their innovative culture.
And we have to find ways of stopping them from going and make sure they want to work here, to ensure they are not restricted through things like bankruptcy laws, which make it really impossible for someone to try an idea and fail. Government also has to offer research and development tax benefits to businesses. That would send a very clear signal to business of the Government’s intent that they are serious about retaining talent and Research and Development in Botswana.
Entrepreneurship has to be rewarded by removing barriers to investing in new businesses by rewarding risk and being less punitive about failure. If some of these policies are not as successful as anticipated, they have to be changed and learnt from because that is what a 21st Century government has got to be. It has got to be as agile as the start-up businesses it seeks to inspire.
Some African member states have demonstrated leadership in establishing National Funds for Research, Innovation as well as, in some cases, entrepreneurship. A number of member states have also established bi-lateral STI (Science, Technology and Innovation) calls for research proposals to promote research collaboration. This is also a good opportunity for Botswana to join the bandwagon and take the lead.
Innovation is in many ways the output of an entrepreneurial culture, and it’s an output of a culture that embraces people and ideas. So one of the keys to driving future prosperity of our country is enabling and collaborating with the private sector. This is where the role of government is needed in bringing together both sides – the private sector, the incredible research we do, so we commercialise things and create these incredible businesses, products, ideas that change the world for the better.
In most of the emerging economies like South Africa, innovation is the rule. However, it tends to be the exception in Botswana. And part of that is founded on the basis that we’ve had such a stable economy and Botswana has been one of sub-Saharan Africa’s fastest-growing countries.
Although competition is strong in other African countries like South Africa, they’re innovating all the time. That is what we also need to do in Botswana. According to the Global Entrepreneurial Report, the Botswana economy is not categorised under the innovation driven phase where businesses are more knowledge-intensive, and the service sector expands, but falls under the factor driven phase which is dominated by subsistence agriculture and extraction businesses, with a heavy reliance on unskilled labour and natural resources. If Botswana is indeed about growth and jobs, then entrepreneurialism and innovation and the ideas boom is the pathway to those growth and jobs.
On the Immigration side, Botswana might want to improve the ways it attracts, and retains; the world’s best and brightest. Research is global by nature and it would be regressive to discourage those with the skills we need from coming and enriching the country. There needs to be reform to allow foreign entrepreneurs access to visas and the opportunity to settle permanently in Botswana if they’ve got a brilliant idea for a start-up.
Although necessity is the motherhood of invention, we haven’t really had the necessity to over-innovate. I cannot see many of our present generation being a part of an innovative society because many of them are entertainment and social media addicts which leads to lower common denominator thinking. The conditions for creative people need to be put in place as a matter of urgency so that citizens can have maximum opportunities to learn and grow.
