In pursuit of science and technology in Sub-Saharan Africa: The impact of structural adjustment programmes

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In pursuit of science and technology in Sub-Saharan Africa: The impact of structural adjustment programmes

J. L. Enos

UNU/INTECH Studies in New Technology and Development

In pursuit of science and technology in Sub-Saharan Africa

This volume examines the progress of Sub-Saharan African countries in advancing science and technology in the context of the Structural Adjustment Programmes they have undertaken.

John Enos looks at the pursuit of science and technology both before and after structural adjustment programmes have been attempted in Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. He looks at the efficiency with which the research and development has been carried out, the transferability of scientific and technical resources from one activity to another and the directions in which advances are channelled. The institutions that receive resources are identified as well as the rates at which those resources are allocated. Finally, John Enos looks at who makes the decisions governing the resources devoted to furthering science and technology and with what objectives.

The findings in this important study will be of interest to students and academics in economic development and to professional economists and administrators directing economic development agencies, as well as to officials in economic planning and finance ministries in developing countries.

J. L. Enos is a Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford.

UNU/INTECH Studies in New Technology and Development

Series editors: Charles Cooper and Swasti Mitter

The books in this series reflect the research initiatives at the United Nations University Institute for New Technologies (UNU/INTECH) based in Maastricht, the Netherlands. This institute is primarily a research centre within the UN system, and evaluates the social, political and economic environment in which new technologies are adopted and adapted in the developing world. The books in the series explore the role that technology policies can play in bridging the economic gap between nations, as well as between groups within nations. The authors and contributors are leading scholars in the field of technology and development; their work focuses on:

• the social and economic implications of new technologies;
• processes of diffusion of such technologies to the developing world;
• the impact of such technologies on income, employment and environment;
• the political dynamics of technology transfer.

The series is a pioneering attempt at placing technology policies at the heart of national and international strategies for development. This is likely to prove crucial in the globalized market, for the competitiveness and sustainable growth of poorer nations.

1 Women Encounter Technology
Perspectives of the Third World
Edited by Swasti Mitter and Sheila Rowbotham

2 In Pursuit of Science and Technology in Sub-Saharan Africa
The impact of Structural Adjustment Programmes
J.L. Enos

3 Politics of Technology in Latin America
Edited by Maria Inês Bastos and Charles M. Cooper

4 Exporting Africa
Technology, Trade and Industrialization in Sub-Saharan Africa
Edited by Samuel M. Wangwe

In pursuit of science and technology in Sub-Saharan Africa

The impact of structural adjustment programmes

J. L. Enos

ROUTLEDGE
London and New York

The United Nations University

INTEC
Institute for New Technologies

Published in association with the UNU Press

First published 1995
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001

Typeset in Times by LaserScript, Mitcham, Surrey
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
Mackays of Chatham PLC, Chatham, Kent

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data

Enos, John L. (John Lawrence), 1924 -
In pursuit of science and technology in sub-Saharan Africa: the impact of structural adjustment programmes/ J.L. Enos.
p. cm. - (UNU/INTECH studies in new technologies and development)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Structural adjustment (Economic policy) - Africa, Sub-Saharan - Case studies. 2. Technology and state - Africa, Sub-Saharan - Case studies. 3. Science and state - Africa, Sub-Saharan - Case studies. I. Title. II. Series.
HC800.E56 1995
338.967- dc20
95-58
CIP

ISBN 0-415-12689-4
ISSN 1359-7922

Contents

Preface

Part I: Introduction

1 Scope and method

Introduction
Objectives of the study
Sampling procedure
Approach to the study
Outline of the book

2 Choice and application of economic theory

Introduction
Consequences, in theory, of advancing science and technology
The timing, in theory, of advancing science and technology
Theories of structural adjustment
Guidance for our study

Part II: The pursuit of science and technology

3 Ghana

Introduction
Recent economic history
The prospects for industry
The structural adjustment programmes
R&D institutions
Science and technology at the Ghanaian universities
Ghana's total expenditures on the pursuit of science and technology

4 Kenya

Introduction
Recent economic history
Investment for the future
R&D institutions
Science and technology at the Kenyan universities
Estimating Kenya's total expenditures on advancing science and technology

5 Tanzania

Introduction
Macro-economic trends in the Tanzanian economy
The structural adjustment programmes
R&D institutions
Education in science and technology
Estimates of the resources devoted to the pursuit of science and technology

6 Uganda

Introduction
Recent economic history
Investment for the future
The R&D institutions
The scientific and technical faculties of the university
Summary

Part III: Effects of the pursuit of science and technology

7 Effects on the economy as a whole

Introduction
Overall expenditures on advancing science and technology
Expenditures of R&D institutes
Government financing of advances in science and technology
Flow of foreign funds into science and technology
Summary of the statistical evidence
A counterfactual experiment

8 Effects among the sectors of the economy

Introduction
Economic activity by sector
Mobility between sectors
Transfer of resources and institutions from the public to the private sector
Summary

9 Effects within organizations

Introduction
Distinguishing between goods of greater and lesser economic potential for sub-Saharan African countries
The maintenance of firms' capital equipment
The effectiveness of R&D efforts
A counterfactual experiment
Summary

Part IV: Conclusions and recommendations

10 Conclusions

Introduction
A summary of the conclusions
Fluctuations in local government expenditures on the pursuit of science and technology
Increases in total expenditures on the pursuit of science and technology
The effects upon different areas of science and technology have been widely different
The areas of science and technologies most vigorously pursued are increasingly determined by foreigners
The choice of the areas of science and technology to be pursued is based primarily upon the effects of such choice on the developed countries
Changes in decision-making for science and technology

11 Policy recommendations

Introduction
The sub-Saharan economies in 2023
The aims of policy
The redirection of education and R&D
Devoting more resources to advancing science and technology
The direction in which R&D should move
Additional resources needed to increase the advance of science and technology
Policy implications of providing additional resources
Summary of policy recommendations

Bibliography