November 8 th, 2013

1. A Business Plan for Africa Breakaway Sessions 3: Operationalizing our Strategy Session 5: Research & Development Dept: Systematic approach to design advanced technology products November 8th, 2013

2. Policy Recommendations within the Africa 2.0 Manifesto • Priority should be allocated to strengthening education and nationwide capacity-building. • Capacity building is required both at the operational level to retain expertise as well at the management level in areas such as structuring financing, planning and procurement. • This knowledge-based society, enhanced by information technology needs to be nurtured and expanded further through an enabling framework set up by the joint effort of leaders and key stakeholders. • Telecom regulators and other authorities should include a roll out program obligation of broadband plus data access to African schools and Universities. A discount of 20-30% for data access for schools, universities, and other learning centres and students across the continent should be granted.

3. Key Facts and Figures Fact 1: Only 0.3% of GDP is devoted to Research and Development (R&D) in Africa, seven times less than what is spent by industrialized countries on this sector. Most R&D in Africa target agriculture rather than manufacturing and services. Fact 2: The world’s largest spender on (R&D) is Israel. It dedicates 4.86 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to R&D, followed by Scandinavian countries such as Finland (3.46 per cent) and Denmark (2.72 per cent). The United States of America (USA) spends 2.82 per cent. Fact 3: 36% of African university graduates, doctors and leading researchers are living abroad (brain drain). This costs billions of dollars to Africa. Fact 4: Africa only has 2 physicians per 10,000 people. This is the lowest physicians-to-population ratio in the world. The world average is 14.

4. Leveraging Strengths and Opportunities, Addressing Weaknesses and Threats WEAKNESSES IMPLICATION Africa has the lowest share of engineering graduate of the world. (source: Mo Ibrahim Foundation, 2013) Average university enrollment in Sub-Saharan Africa is 5%, compared to 70% in high-income countries. (source: university enrollments and GNI: World Bank) Africa is almost invisible on the world’s map of scientific publications.

5. Leveraging Strengths and Opportunities, Addressing Weaknesses and Threats STRENGTHS AND OPPORTUNITIES According to EY report, “It’s time for Africa”, Foreign Direct Investment is a catalyst for skills, technology and knowledge transfer. Africa share of global FDI’s project has grown substantially, from 3.2% in 2007 to 5.6% in 2012. Access to telecommunications represents an essential driver of development for Africa. Within the coming years, most Africans will access data and information through their mobile phones. Telecommunications in Africa should stimulate technology innovation and rapid adoption (4G, LTE, etc.). In many ways, the groundwork of research is present in Africa - knowledge, ingenuity, willingness to learn and adapt, coupled with the rapid expansion of digital technology.

6. Leveraging Strengths and Opportunities, Addressing Weaknesses and Threats African innovation labs on the move

7. How to design an R&D strategy ?

8. Best Practices • South Korea, has progressed from an input-driven economy to a knowledge-based economy. There was a deliberate strategy by policy makers to focus on technology in order to revitalize the economy. South Korea's education system is technologically advanced and it is the first country in the world to bring high-speed fiber optic broadband internet access to every primary and secondary school nation-wide. • M-PESA is an example of how the continent leads the mobile banking space, by providing a new service (e-money transactions). From its launch in March 2007 to December 2012, M-Pesa has convinced 17 million consumers on the Kenyan market alone. • IBM has bolstered existing investments in the continent by opening a research facility in Nairobi. According to IBM, this is the first research facility that does both applied and exploratory research on the continent. “We believe research for Africa, solving Africa's grand challenges, has to be done on the ground in Africa.” DrKamal Bhattacharya - IBM Research - Africa

9. Key Questions to Address in Today’s Session

10. Action prioritization Matrix and Stakeholder Engagement Matrix Complete the Action Prioritization Matrix below with the key short, medium and long-term leapfrogging actions. For each identified leapfrogging action, complete the Stakeholder Engagement Matrix below: