Aug 13, 2018 | CEO Blog

Tokyo Dispatch: Japan wants to become Africa's preferred innovation partner

By Ibrahim Mayaki

“My advice to Japanese firms investing in Africa? Look for the countries where states have created a robust innovation ecosystem,” Dr. Ibrahim Mayaki, CEO of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) told Japanese and African public and private sector participants in an informal session on  innovation in Africa, held at the Tokyo UN University on August 2.

“An ‘innovation’ is usually defined as a new product or technology, or significant improvements to an existing product or process.  The key word in there,” Mayaki said, “is ‘significant’. How do African countries grow innovations that change not only the way Africans live and transact, but impact the world at large? Particularly when in most cases, innovation is limited to a single industry or sector – and the state plays at best a minor role in encouraging productivity advances.

Read the full article on Forbes.