How 'frugal innovation' could aid Africa's green development
来源:World Economic Forum;发表于:2021-04-24;人气指数:762
How 'frugal innovation' could aid Africa's
green development
There is potential for positive change in
Africa.
Image: Unsplash/Damian Patkowski
This article is published in collaboration
with Thomson Reuters Foundation trust.org
20 Apr 2021
Laurie Goering
Editor, AlertNet Climate
*Africa will need more "frugal
innovation" to tackle climate change and spur development, according to
entrepreneurs and officials.
*But there are barriers to solving these
problems, such as sparse research funding and government restrictions.
*Leaders must make the most of opportunities
and innovations, the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship was told.
Cash-short Africa will need "frugal
innovation" based on simple, local solutions to deal with serious and
growing problems, from climate change to a surging youth population and a lack
of jobs, African entrepreneurs and officials said.
The good news is Africans "have frugal
reflexes. They have been doing frugal innovation a long time", said Fatima
Denton, director of the U.N. University Institute for Natural Resources in
Africa, based in Ghana.
But sparse research funding, government
restrictions, a cultural under-appreciation of entrepreneurs and a focus by
many governments on large-scale industrialisation as the way ahead are holding
back efforts, she and others said.
Tackling such barriers could help Africans
create millions of new jobs, find ways to deal with climate threats and spur
development, they told an online event during the Skoll World Forum on Social
Entrepreneurship.
"We're really kidding ourselves if we
think all the solutions for the Global South will come from the Global
North," said Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, a Nigerian entrepreneur who co-founded Andela,
a company that trains software engineers.
"The amount of money that typically goes
into building infrastructure that will guard the future is billions of dollars,
which Africa will not have for a long time. So we will have to pursue frugal
innovation," he said.
Africa has already seen its share of
bootstrap-style innovation, from the rapid spread of smartphones across a
continent with few landlines to apps that can help climate-hit farmers adapt
crops in response to seasonal weather forecasts.
Bright Simons, a Ghanaian entrepreneur, has
developed verification technology to help buyers detect fake seeds, medicine
and other products, a big problem across Africa.
He said African government could spur more
innovation by identifying "moonshots" - thorny problems they want
solved - then stepping back to let entrepreneurs try and fix them.
"Government is effective sometimes when
they get out of the way," Simons said.
But a dearth of research funding from
governments, businesses and other bodies is a serious impediment to testing and
scaling up grassroots innovation, he added.
Congolese motorbike taxi rider Imelda Mmambu
carries a client on her motorbike.
Image: REUTERS/Erikas Mwisi Kambale
Today, Africa as a region contributes just 1%
of global scientific reports and other research "goods", Denton said,
largely because it is poorly resourced.
A surge in innovation, particularly in terms
of taking small ideas to market, won't happen unless that changes, Simons said.
"Rebalancing that equation is critical to
letting frugal local innovations see the light of day," the Ghanaian
noted.
Plentiful opportunities
Africa has already missed some opportunities,
Aboyeji said.
The idea for ride-sharing giant Lyft developed
in part after co-founder Logan Green visited Zimbabwe and noticed widespread
ride-sharing there due to a lack of public transport and private car ownership,
Aboyeji said.
Now that company is bringing in billions,
while Zimbabweans still struggle to get around.
"We don't know the value of what we
have," Aboyeji said. "Lyft could have been a billion-dollar African
company."
But other opportunities are plentiful, he
said.
African entrepreneurs are looking into how to
eliminate power-sucking condensers in air conditioning and refrigeration
equipment, which could slash energy use and make cooling more widely available
on a fast-heating continent, he said.
Many African farmers also by default grow
organic food, because they can't afford expensive chemical fertilisers and
pesticides, Simons said. Hooking them up with organic-hungry buyers in Europe
could pay dividends for both.
And in a continent that will have half the
world's working-age population by 2035, finding innovative ways to educate
children could have a big payoff in the long run, Aboyeji said.
"How do you educate people on a continent
where you have another 400 million children coming and an existing 30-plus
million kids already out of school?," he said. "Clearly, the old
infrastructure cannot work."
Denton said Africa was in a good position to
benefit from the Fourth Industrial Revolution, focused on a fusion of digital,
physical and biological advances.
A 2019 study by her institute found that of the
63 essential elements needed for that revolution and new low-carbon
technologies, 42 are found in Africa, particularly rare minerals.
On a continent that has long seen its natural
resources harvested to build wealth elsewhere, "how do we make sure this
time we are much more savvy and ahead of the curve, and not open to
predation?" Denton asked.
Too many African leaders remain focused on
industrialising their countries by building steel factories and other heavy
industry, when greener and potentially more lucrative alternatives are
available, she added.
In an era of growing concern about climate
change, "we have a huge responsibility to see how we can develop
otherwise", she said.