Promoting Industrialization Through Commercialization of Innovation in Nigeria.

Abstract

In recent decades, innovation has become the focus of economic research as a long term factor of economic development.   Continuous innovation improves a firm’s performance by increasing demand for its products and services and to reduce cost. In Nigeria while the Science, Technology and Innovation system is massive and expansive and contains about 125 universities, 125 poly-techniques, 98 colleges of education and over 300 institutions composed of research institutes, innovation agencies, policy implementation departments, multinational companies and large pool of skilled labour, including a sizeable Diaspora, the economy is still technologically weak with a very high national poverty incidence.  These have not resulted in significant industrial activities and national economic prosperity.  Thus, Nigeria currently stands at 66 out of 73 countries ranked on the basis of innovation activities.  One of the major problems limiting contribution of innovation to industrial development in Nigeria is  the low level of fund available for innovation activities. While government is the sole sponsor of R&D activities in Nigeria, the funding level is abysmally low at about 0.11% of the GDP.  In addition, there is lack of trust by the private sector on innovation from public research institutes and the universities as a result of inadequate infrastructural facilities. Also little or no interaction exists among major actors in the innovation system leading to high level of duplication.  To obviate some of the problems and set stakeholders in the Science Technology and Innovation system on the right path, government should encourage linkage between the public RIs and universities,  increase funding of R&D innvovation from the meagre 0.1% to a minimum of 1% of GDP in line with UNESCO reccommendations and upgrade the facilities at the public research institutes and the universities.  It has become germain that public RIs and universities contribute at least 30% of their running costs through patenting and commercialization of research results. This will ecourage entreprenureship development among research scientists in addition to fostering linkage between the public research institites, universities and the private sector.

Keywords: innovation, commercialization, industrialization, research and development