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Date:12/06/2006
Source: Ministry of Science and Technology
Title: Mangena: Africa Conference on Technology Transfer and Diffusion


  Welcome address by the honourable Minister of Science and Technology, Mr Mosibudi Mangena, at the first All Africa Conference on Technology Transfer and Diffusion in Boksburg, Johannesburg

The impressive range of countries and organisations participating in this conference fills us with pride and a great sense of appreciation. We heartily welcome all of you to this important Africa on Technology Transfer and Diffusion Conference, especially those who have travelled from many parts of Africa, Europe, America and multilateral organisations such as the United Nations Industry Organisation (UNIDO).

This conference was organised on behalf of my Department by the Tshumisano Trust which is one of our key technology organisations we developed with strong support from the German Ministry of Economic Co-operative Development through their agency, the German Technology Co-operation (GTZ). We sincerely thank the CEO of Tshumisano, Dr Phaho and the organisers from Tshumisano and my Department for a job well done.

Embracing and mastering technology presents considerable challenges for most countries in Africa. We are, therefore, particularly pleased that we have such strong participation from so many countries and institutions from different parts of Africa including Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Namibia, Uganda, Ghana, Kenya, Senegal, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Cameroon and Tunisia. The participation of our local industries and small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs), researchers and technology experts from our universities of technology and technology stations has added a special dimension and significance to this inaugural conference.

It is important to recognise that this technology conference presents a unique African opportunity for a number of participants to share and reflect on the challenges they face in their daily work from their perspective as technology transfer practitioners or policy makers.

Our National Research and Development (R&D) strategy recognises that to be truly strategic about technologies is to understand and plan towards mastering the technologies, which implies having the capacity to use technologies developed by others elsewhere. Consequently, you require people who have scientific backgrounds, are technically literate, innovative and entrepreneurial and have a strong national base of scientific and engineering infrastructure such as accredited laboratories and connectivity.

To use the technology effectively means having sufficient numbers of people possessing a range of competencies and significant levels of expertise in applying the technology. It also means having people with a higher level of expertise in redesigning or re-engineering the technologies for local application. Imported technologies tend to hold performance and functionality that is applicable to the problems and needs of the countries of origin. This assertion is not mere speculation, since most developing countries have had bitter experiences of deploying scarce financial resources on inappropriate technologies.

We believe the next step on the road to mastering technology is building internal capacity for improving on imported technologies because this is how you ‘can go one better’ than your competitors.

By way of example about four years ago one of our technology stations in Port Elizabeth assisted a company to meet the new European specifications for welding guns. The company in partnership with the technology station did not only meet the European Union (EU) specifications, but went a step further to achieve a world first to produce a welding gun 2 kg lighter. In a manufacturing environment the bar relating to safety and performance standards is constantly being raised and companies either achieve it or lose it and go out of business.

The ultimate measure for mastering technology is the ability to develop the technology and sell it to the users subject to licensing agreements. Undoubtedly, this level of capability can only be built out of focused applications based research and experimental development. That is why our mission driven R&D strategy has led to initiatives in the development of national capabilities in biotechnology, nanotechnology, software engineering, and novel vaccines.

You may well ask what scope and opportunity exists for African countries to become technology leaders rather than ‘dynamic adopters’ or fast followers, as the UN defines technology achievement. It is critical that we understand the urgency of finding technology based solutions to the problems faced by our technology dependent manufacturing industries, addressing food security risks across the continent and utilising smart drug delivery systems. For example, we urgently need to develop expertise in the invention of alternate materials to natural products. In this way we will be able to derive maximum value and exploit our mineral resources and our biodiversity heritage in an environmentally sustainable way.

Africa is endowed with a wealth of natural resources and human potential. But the ability to use this wealth to build sustainable economies and compete successfully in the global arena remains a key challenge of our time. There are many reasons for the slow progress we are making in this regard. Major stumbling blocks to our social and economic growth stem from our human capital development challenges and our ability to integrate new technological innovations into our economies.

For this reason the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation emanating from the World Summit on Sustainable Development identified continent-wide technology development, transfer and diffusion as one of the important elements for achieving sustainable development in Africa. Therefore, the development of effective science and technology systems capable of developing and adapting to world class technologies is a necessary precondition for the achievement of this objective. We hope the conference will go a long way in preparing the groundwork for serious dialogue on how our countries and continent can develop and implement optimal models for technology development, transfer and diffusion.

Since 1994, South Africa has made tremendous progress in steering her science system in the right direction and stabilising existing capacity. We can reasonably claim the establishment of a strong enough climate to encourage researchers to stay. However, the near overwhelming challenge to grow a relevant critical mass of scientists and engineers is a hurdle we must still clear.

Nonetheless we are beginning to see some fruits for our work. 0ur national R&D investment, a key indicator by means of which countries measure their ability to compete with others, has improved in recent years from 0,76 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to the current 0,87 percent. We need to maintain this momentum if we are to achieve our target spending on R&D of one percent of GDP by 2008. However, the underpinning elements to achieve this objective lie in our ability to grow enough new researchers and narrow the divide between our first and second economies.

The launch of the Accelerated Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA) in 2005, has resulted in South Africa committing itself to reaching at least six percent economic growth by 2010. The achievement of this objective is also dependent on the modernisation of our economy to reach international competitiveness. Hence we need to create new innovative products, services and ideas and engage in value adding activities to improve product performance, functionality, features and quality at a reasonable cost.

My Department has a vital role to play in ensuring this level of growth becomes a reality. It must focus on interventions in key areas in the chemicals and manufacturing sectors. Our future competitiveness will depend on the capacity of the manufacturing sector to master advanced technology domains, to innovate and to meet the needs of the consumer. The Department is working with our partners in government and industry to ensure that resources in this sector are optimally developed, focused and utilised in order to achieve these goals.

We are committed to ensuring that technology transfer buttresses the modernisation of the economy and enhance our technology skills base. The Tshumisano Technology Station Programme was specifically established to advance technology transfer and skills development to enhance equitable economic development. The role of the higher education sector in supporting SMMEs to become engines of growth is paramount in this equation. In line with my Department’s commitment to develop human capacity in technology, the Tshumisano Trust is collaborating with the sector but particularly universities of technology to promote the development of industries in manufacturing, chemicals and textiles and by supporting innovation within the SMMEs and student skills development.

The Tshumisano Technology Stations Programme boasts a number of successes which will be shared by the relevant speakers. Since 2001, the trust has increased its stations from three to 10. The programme is supporting various sectors, including:

* mechanical engineering and chemicals at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth
* materials and processing at Vaal University of Technology
* clothing and textiles at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology
* electronics and chemicals at Tshwane University of Technology
* metal casting at the University of Johannesburg
* metal value adding at the Central University of Technology
* Durban Institute of Technology in reinforced plastics.

To date Tshumisano has handled more that 482 projects, trained 134 students in various aspects of technology transfer and supported 356 small and medium size enterprises in technology applications. Many of these are owned and run by African and women entrepreneurs who were excluded from the economic mainstream.

Africa is at a turning point in its history. Our continent is seeing unprecedented levels of economic growth and there is a sense that real developmental progress is within reach. The world development indicators released by the World Bank point that in 2004, Sub-Saharan Africa achieved an annual growth rate of 4,8 percent, exceeding the 2004 global growth rate of 4,1 percent. This achievement follows years of negative growth by many Sub-Saharan countries. The challenge ahead is to translate this economic growth into genuine poverty reduction in Africa.

For the continent to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and indeed to make this the African century, we need to harness our collective efforts to address our pressing social and economic. This conference also provides us with an opportunity to affirm our commitment to the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) programme of action through the discussions on technology diffusion and sharing experiences and lessons.

This conference is another confirmation of our commitment to the NEPAD plan of action agreed to at the African Ministerial Conference on Science and Technology in 2003, which identified the importance of science and technology in African socio economic recovery agenda. I am confident that the outcomes of this conference will contribute towards strengthening the NEPAD goals and placing technology transfer at the forefront of Africa’s development agenda.

May I, in closing, reiterate my Ministry’s warm welcome to all the delegates. We have no doubt that the networks that will be established and the impact of the knowledge shared during the coming three days will endure long after this landmark conference has come to an end. I wish you every success in your deliberations.

I thank you!

Issued by: Ministry of Science and Technology
12 June 2006
   

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