OFFICIAL STATEMENT BY THE WEST AFRICA ICT ACTION NETWORK (WAICTANet)
On the Release of the African Innovation Outlook IV (AIO-2024): Accelerating Africa’s Industrialisation through Innovation
The West Africa ICT Action Network (WAICTANet) warmly welcomes the release of the African Innovation Outlook IV (AIO-2024), a flagship continental report produced by the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) in collaboration with the African Union Commission (AUC). The report provides a timely, evidence-based assessment of Africa’s science, technology and innovation (STI) landscape and its critical role in accelerating industrialisation and sustainable development across the continent.
WAICTANet commends AUDA-NEPAD and the ASTII Programme for strengthening Africa’s innovation measurement systems and aligning STI indicators with Agenda 2063, the Second Ten-Year Implementation Plan, and the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDGs 9 and 17. The AIO-2024 rightly positions innovation—not as an abstract aspiration—but as a practical engine for economic transformation, job creation, resilience, and regional competitiveness.
For the ECOWAS region, and especially the Mano River Union (MRU) countries—Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Côte d’Ivoire—the findings of AIO-2024 are both sobering and instructive. While innovation hubs, digital entrepreneurship, and youth-led initiatives are emerging across West Africa, the region continues to face structural constraints, including low R&D investment, limited industrial research capacity, fragmented innovation governance, and weak linkages between universities, industry, and public policy.
The report’s evidence that Africa contributes less than 1% of global R&D expenditure, with only a handful of countries meeting the 1% of GDP target, underscores a pressing challenge for ECOWAS and MRU states—many of which remain heavily dependent on primary commodities, imported technologies, and donor-driven innovation models. Without deliberate policy shifts, the region risks deepening technological dependency and missing the industrial opportunities of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
In light of AIO-2024, WAICTANet calls for coordinated, region-specific policy reforms to unlock West Africa’s innovation and industrial potential:
- Scale Up Domestic R&D Investment
ECOWAS and MRU governments should adopt clear, time-bound national commitments to progressively increase R&D spending toward at least 1% of GDP, with dedicated budget lines for applied research, digital innovation, and industrial problem-solving relevant to local economies. - Strengthen Regional Innovation Systems
Building on ECOWAS frameworks, MRU states should pursue joint research programmes, shared innovation infrastructure, and cross-border centres of excellence in priority sectors such as agri-tech, renewable energy, digital public infrastructure, and climate-resilient manufacturing. - Link Innovation to Industrial Policy and AfCFTA
Innovation policy must be explicitly tied to industrialisation strategies, value-addition, and regional value chains under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), ensuring that digitalisation and emerging technologies translate into productive, inclusive industries. - Invest in Human Capital and Youth-Led Innovation
The region’s youthful population is its greatest asset. Targeted investments in STEM education, digital and industrial skills, research careers, and women-led innovation are essential to convert demographic growth into an innovation dividend. - Mobilise the Private Sector and SMEs
Governments should deploy tax incentives, innovation grants, procurement policies, and regulatory reforms that encourage private sector R&D, support SMEs to adopt new technologies, and accelerate research commercialisation. - Improve STI Data and Evidence-Based Governance
Strengthening national and regional STI observatories—aligned with ASTII standards—is critical for evidence-based policymaking, accountability, and monitoring progress across ECOWAS and MRU countries.
As a regional civil society and policy network, WAICTANet reaffirms its commitment to supporting governments, regional institutions, academia, industry, and youth innovators across ECOWAS and the MRU to translate the insights of AIO-2024 into practical action. Through research, multi-stakeholder dialogue, capacity-building, and policy advocacy, we will continue to champion innovation-driven, inclusive, and sustainable industrialisation in West Africa.
The African Innovation Outlook IV is not merely a diagnostic—it is a call to action. For ECOWAS and MRU states, the choice is clear: invest decisively in innovation today, or risk exclusion from the industries and economies of tomorrow. WAICTANet stands ready to work with all partners to ensure that West Africa’s innovation potential delivers tangible development outcomes for its people.
