A few weeks ago, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was in China to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of the 2024 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit to be held in Beijing, China. At the end of the meeting, President Xi announced that the government would encourage more Chinese conglomerates to invest in Nigeria. This is good news because the country needs huge investments to revive its struggling economy and give Nigerians better conditions.
China’s footprint in Nigeria
China has typically considered Africa, particularly Nigeria, to be strategic to its growth strategy as a source of raw materials and a ready market for manufactured goods. Chinese companies in Nigeria are now major players in manufacturing, telecommunications, financial services, transportation, energy and infrastructure. Chinese companies such as digital security company ZKTeco; Huawei is a major ICT company. Guangzhou Automobile Group Corporation (GAC). Western Metal Products Company Limited (WEMPCO), a steel mill. Golden Gate and many other companies in the food industry have invested billions of dollars into the Nigerian economy.
These investments and those from other sources have helped the country in terms of job creation, government revenue stimulation, and knowledge and skills transfer. However, the impact will be limited and Nigeria will need to recalibrate its foreign direct investment and capital import policies for the digital age to ensure that it derives optimal returns from these investments.
Focus on parts of the global digital market
The reality is that the world is becoming greener and more digital, and economies are competing to capture their fair share of these markets. Countries that can sell green and digital products will definitely gain a better foothold in the global market. Nigeria has the key ingredients needed to become a big player in the global digital economy. With a large population of tech-savvy and entrepreneurial young people, Africa is already leading the way in technology development. For example, Lagos was the only African city to be ranked in the Global Top 100 Startup Ecosystems in 2023 and one of only three African countries to be ranked in 2024. Also, in terms of funding, Nigeria has surpassed Nairobi and Cape Town in the 2024 rankings.
Building strong R&D to increase competitiveness
However, the country needs to strengthen its research and development (R&D) capabilities to maximize the potential of its talent pool and compete favorably with other countries in the lucrative technology market. Policymakers need to devise ways to ensure that some of the investment money that flows into the economy is spent on research and development. The government should encourage large Chinese companies and other investors expected to invest in the economy to consider allocating a portion of their investments to research and development.
Growth of R&D, academic and technology ecosystems
The research and development sector driven by academic institutions is essential to the growth of the technology ecosystem in terms of increasing the stock of knowledge and generating new product development. Commenting on this link between technology and academia, Dr. Bosun Tijani, Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, said: “Academic institutions are part of a larger technology ecosystem that is missing. That kind of ecosystem funding doesn’t exist, not just in Nigeria but on the African continent.” United States, South Korea, China, India, Sweden The world’s top performers in digital markets, such as , the UK, rely heavily on strong R&D departments.
Benefits of research and development
The benefits of research and development include collaboration between industry and academic institutions. This gives businesses access to academic expertise and universities the funding they need to tackle real-world challenges. Such partnerships help bridge the gap between academic research and practical application in the technology industry and the real world. Universities around the world regularly collaborate with technology companies on joint research and development projects. Quantum computing, AI models, and cloud-based technologies were the result of these collaborations between tech giants like Microsoft and Google and universities like Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Yale.
In fact, overseas universities have organizations called Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs) that help transform academic research into marketable products by licensing developed technologies to private companies. . Such cooperation would be particularly beneficial to Nigerian universities, which often struggle to obtain funding for research activities. For example, in 2019, ZKTeco developed a research and development center within a top Nigerian university and expressed strong interest in expanding it in the long term. This plan is still in progress.
Research and development helps build and strengthen regional expertise by facilitating the training and growth of technical experts and scientists. The country already has a potential talent pool that can be tapped to drive technological progress and innovation. Local expertise generated through research and development generates new ideas that foster the development of innovative products that are relevant to the economy. Research and development can also help adapt global innovations to address local needs, making innovations more accessible and affordable.
Nigerians are well known for their entrepreneurial spirit. From 2019 to 2023, Nigerian startups received $4.4 billion, or 29% of the $15 billion invested in the continent, according to a report by research firm Africa the Big Deal. A robust R&D sector will further stimulate entrepreneurship in the country, thereby developing a new wave of Piggyvest, Flutterwave, Wakanows and Iroko TV, enabling Nigeria to strengthen its technology ecosystem and compete globally. I would do it like this.
Countries such as India, China, South Korea, and the United States are today net exporters of technology products and services around the world due to their strong research and development sectors. Nigeria’s quest to diversify its economy and build a strong industrial base to move away from import dependence can be achieved through a functional research and development space.
Impact of research and development in other climates
There are many examples of research and development leading to technological breakthroughs in various industries around the world. The Dutch R&D sector has contributed to the transformation of traditional agriculture. Vertical farming and precision farming have created solutions such as minimal land and water usage to produce high crop yields in the country.
Huge investments in research and development by Huawei, Qualcomm, and Samsung have significantly led to the development of 5G technology with many advanced features and benefits. 5G has also led to the development of smart cities. The MacBook, iPhone, and iPad are all products of Apple’s research and development investments. The same goes for Tesla’s self-driving and electric vehicle innovations, OpenAI’s ChatGPT, and DeepMind’s AlphaGo development. The MIT Media Lab contributed to the development of robotics, and Dropbox (MIT) and Facebook (Harvard University) were created by university students/researchers.
Margaret Thatcher is forever celebrated as the person who laid the foundations for the blossoming of Britain’s technology industry. Her government recognized the symbiotic relationship between entrepreneurship and academia and introduced policies to strengthen the relationship.
Nigeria needs investment in research and development
The Nigerian government needs to adopt a similar strategy by introducing comprehensive policies to help build the country’s research and development sector. During his visit to China, President Tinubu toured Huawei research institutes and witnessed first-hand how research and development helps advance knowledge and generate new ideas. It is encouraging that he was able to secure “a commitment from Huawei to establish a joint solar power testing laboratory in Nigeria.” That’s a good step forward. However, this government must urgently work to remove some of the barriers to domestic research and development, including bureaucracy, inadequate remuneration and recognition of researchers, lack of funding, and insufficient or non-existent laboratories. be.
Research and development that increases the driving force of a $1 trillion economy
The Tinubu administration has expressed a desire to build a $1 trillion economy. It is achievable if this country can develop digital solutions that address real-world challenges. However, a strong R&D department is essential in creating new ideas and innovative products, enhancing knowledge, creating jobs, attracting investment, reducing import dependence, developing local industry, and supporting the export of talent. essential for such development.
