Description: Investigating the nature, drivers and sources of innovation in Africa, this book examines the channels for effective diffusion of innovation in and to Africa under institutional, resource and affordability constraints. Fu draws on almost a decade of research on innovation in Africa to explore these issues and unpack the process, combining a rigorous statistical analysis of a purposely designed multi-wave, multi-country survey with in-depth studies of representative cases. Building on this research, Fu argues that African firms are innovative but unsupported. Those 'under-the-radar' innovations that widely exist in Africa as a result of the constraints are not sufficient to enable Africa to leapfrog the innovation gap in the era of the fourth Industrial Revolution. This is the first comprehensive analysis of the creation and diffusion of innovation in low income countries. It also provides the first survey-based analysis of innovation in the informal economy.
Brief description: Xiaolan Fu is the Founding Director of the Technology and Management Centre for Development, Professor of Technology and International Development at the University of Oxford. She led the DFID/ESRC research on 'Diffusion of Innovation in Low-income countries', and is appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations to the Governing Council of the Technology Bank and the High-Level Advisory Group of the Technology Facilitation Mechanism for sustainable development.
Review Quotes: '... useful entrée into the author's quite extensive research program on a salient set of issues in economic development. Recommended.' D. Mitch, Choice