Innovation is yet another buzz word that defines the twenty first century in more ways that we have time to pay attention to in the moment.

In general, we have much to celebrate in terms of what opportunities to innovate have brought many around the world, particularly those of us in the so-called “developing world”. The global economic recession has also seen the upsweep of the reliance to use innovation as one of the coping mechanisms that sees people through these challenging times. Corporations, brand and marketing managers are being asked not to innovate more brands or lines but to be innovative themselves in the way they market their brands and business. The question remains: how do we understand innovation in South Africa and Africa and how are we leveraging our appreciation for the nuances that embody our markets and communities? Our markets are not only colourful, vibrant and dynamic, but African markets are also every marketer’s paradise. Here you find the kinds of consumers with a massive appetite for product innovation but also markets with significant room to innovate sustainably – ultimately developing leading solutions that are not only profitable, but also pragmatic about taking community and environment into account on the innovation value chain. As such, I believe as an entrepreneur it is of utmost importance to look closest to home for new ideas.

How do we define innovation? Innovation is broadly defined as exploiting new ideas, leading to the creation of a new product, process or service. Ultimately, it is not just the invention of a new idea that is important, but actually “bringing it to market”. True innovation is about applying practical steps and exploiting opportunities in a manner that leads to new products, services or systems that add value or improve the quality of people’s lives (without leaving a negative impact on the environment and its ecosystems). Innovation also means leveraging new and existing technology, going beyond the obvious to capture value and bringing about significant changes in society.

Why innovation is important for Africa?

Africa runs a risk for falling behind, even though there are many opportunities to be exploited. Despite our colonial legacy, we cannot be apologetic about the fact that remnants of colonial systems continue to lurk in African societies – our education systems, our systems and structures of governance, etc. However, Africa and South Africa must be diligent about chipping away at devising approaches to develop explicit innovation strategies that are geared at exploiting existing technologies to enhance our livelihoods and experiences on the continent. Africa can lead and champion innovation in areas like environmental sustainability, focusing on renewable energy sources, given our proportionate access to sunlight and wind, for instance. Opportunities such as these have the potential to change Africa’s socio-economic and political guise for generations to come. This can be seen with the establishment of the African Leadership Academy in Johannesburg, where Africa’s young leaders and innovators are being groomed. Success stories are already evident, as one of the ALA students has already appeared on CNN having built a windmill to generate electricity for this community in Malawi (visit http://williamkamkwamba.typepad.com)

Today, Africa needs innovators more than any time before. Innovation that is locally derived yet globally applicable can change the way we feel about ourselves as Africans, as well as positively impact our positioning on global platforms.

Finally, I would like to share some tips by Carl Dahlman, a policy expert on Innovation in Africa (taken from his presentation “Innovation in Africa – Some Basic Concepts” prepared for “Innovation in the African Context: A Forum for Policymakers” and given in 2007 in Dublin, Ireland)

- Don’t focus just on R&D. Innovation also comes from knowledge already existing elsewhere.
- Don’t focus just on creating knowledge. Also need to get knowledge into use.
- Develop incentives and mechanisms to make knowledge creation relevant to needs of economy and to transfer it.
- Don’t focus just on agriculture and industry. Services are the largest sector.
- Need to promote more interaction among research centers, enterprises and universities.
- Tap formal R&D in public and private sector to address needs of the poor.
- Support collection and improvement of indigenous knowledge.
- Don’t reinvent the wheel. Scan the world for knowledge relevant to countries needs.
- Remove constraints on accessing global knowledge.
- Develop explicit strategies and policies to leverage knowledge from Africans in the Diaspora.