UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER |
Dist. Limited
ARCST/1/5e 21 September 1995
UNITED NATIONS Original: ENGLISH ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL
ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA
First Meeting of the African Regional Conference on
Science and Technology
Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) 6-10 November 1995
TECHNOLOGY TRANSER, NEGOTIATION AND ACQUISITION IN THE CONTEXT OF PROMOTING THE AFRICAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY
ARCST/1/5.e
TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER, NEGOTIATION AND ACQUISTION IN THE
CONTEXT OF PROMOTING THE AFRICAN ECONOMIC COMMINUTY
1. African developing countries are marginal producers of new technology. Their share of the world research and development effort is less than half of one percent and the research work being carried out does not produce much technological innovation. Indeed, the research and development effort in Africa has made little contribution to technological and economic development during the last three decades and it is not expected to make much contribution either in the years ahead. Much of the discourse on research has been and still is self- deceptive. In this context sound technology transfer and acquisition have to play an increased role in African development than it has up to now and it must receive greater attention from policy-makers than it has so far. In particular, human, institutional and legal capacity in technology transfer must be enhanced.
2. The new global system of technology transfer and the new international context that are emerging will have profound impacts on North-South flows of technology in the coming years:
~ Proprietary and strategic (military) technologies
will be more protected but less
restricted than during the cold war period
~ Technology embodied in products will be more accessible
as trade becomes
freer.
~ Non-proprietary technologies will be more abundant
but probably less relevant
to developing countries as the technology
gap gets wider
~ Technical assistance may stagnate at their present
level or even decline further
as donor countries face budget constraints
and increased demands from other
parts of the world
~ Severe economic and financial problems experienced
by many African
countries will continue to curb commercial
technology acquisition while
political instability and cultural blockages
will also contribute to constrain
foreign technology inflow to a low level.
~ The slow application of telecommunication and information
technologies in
Africa, which are the main supports of technology
transfer in many fields, will
continue to contribute to the widening technology
gap between technology
intensive countries and African countries.
3. Hence the importance of keeping all available scientific and technological development options unrestricted with unnecessary and cumbersome regulations inherited from past situations and development policies and a foregone international context.
4. History clearly shows that inward-looking, over restrictive technology transfer and acquisition policies, disconnected from the world economy and also from the basic needs of the population do not lead to true socioeconomic development. Technological progress is a global, intensely complementary and competitive phenomenon that evolves in a dense web of interactions of diverse inputs. Technological innovation has its own logic that blows away those that are not willing or not able to capture its benefits.
5. Deliberate or de facto isolationist technology policies cannot reverse the diminishing flow of technology into Africa in an increasingly interdependent, productive and competitive technology-driven world economy. These policies can lead to a dangerous de- linking from the scientific and technological locomotives that will continue to shape the international pattern of growth for a long time to come and also hamper cooperation with other developing countries that have appropriate know-how, technology and markets to share. Hence the crucial importance of managing the `technological window` with openness in order to capture the immense opportunities that the world has to offer and prevent the technology gap from growing larger and larger. It can be done with the right policies. Policies matter.
6. Investment climates must be made more competitive and the acquisition of technology should be regulated more by market mechanisms than by regulations. For large projects for which governments' support will be invariably sought, negotiation can be carried out on a case by case basis, taking into account all factors of analysis, including the impact on income distribution, employment generation, balance-of-payment and the environment.
7. tional dialogue on these policies should be organized in each country to look into the following and take appropriate measures:
(a) arrive at a social and political consensus as
to the need for a revision or a substantial
adaptation of some elements of national technology
transfer and acquisition
policies
(b) formulate a clear policy statement on technology
transfer and acquisition, to be
approved by the highest governmental authorities,
specifying
~ the objectives pursued ~ the guiding
principles ~ the role of various public institutions
~ the role of market mechanisms ~ the role
of the private sector ~ the importance of foreign
investments, joint ventures, licensing
~ priority sectors
(c) initiate measures to strengthen manpower training
in various aspects of technology
transfer
(d) design competitive laws, including protection
of property rights, trade, immigration
and foreign investments, and competitive regulations
and guidelines to facilitate the
transfer and acquisition of environmentally sound,
culturally compatible, socially
beneficial, economically profitable and sustainable
technologies.
(e) reduce cultural and political constraints to technology
transfer and development,
and promote values of change, openness, self reliance,
initiative, entrepreneurship,
freedom and stability.
(f) pursue structural economic reforms so that African economies can:
~ be more attractive on the international scene ~ better absorb needed technologies ~ better exploit technological complementarities among themselves ~ participate more in the global economy ~ benefit more from the world technology pool ~ and prevent further marginalization.
(g) design policies to "contain" brain drain
and benefit from African nationals working
abroad
(h) create a strong Governmental Unit to
~ design and manage a more discriminating technology
transfer and acquisition
policy in the direction of the national objectives
~ carry out technology assessment and forecasting
~ support entrepreneurs in their foreign technology
transactions and ~ advise the government on issues
of technology transfer.
(i) evolve concerted and harmonized subregional technology
transfer and acquisition
policies to make optimal use of resources and
enhance a common stand when
competing for foreign acquisition of technology.
8. Technology transfer is a means to strengthen technological capacity and countries that are not successful in transferring technology are left behind in development. Hence the paramount importance of the subject.
9. Issues to be discussed include:
~ How the new international context ( new Gatt,
decline of technical cooperation,
expansion of market economies, etc. ) will
affect technology transfer in Africa
?
~ Can national dialogues be organized on technology
transfer to discuss issues
mentioned above ?
~ Are the present science and technology policies
adequately reflecting the
strategic role and improt of technology transfer
in development ?
~ What are the most important constraints to technology
transfer and what need
to be done to reduce or remove them?
~ What laws or regulations need to be changed or
put into place at national level
to strengthen the contribution of technology
transfer in development ?
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From: SSolbi@padis.gn.apc.org Date: Tue, 12 Mar 96 12:48:13 +0000 Subject: padis8 Message-ID: <240cbe06@p36.f1.n751.z5.gnfido.fidonet.org>
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