Abstract:

The last two decades has witnessed an upsurge in an empirical study of forces that shape the rate of economic growth. The theoretical front witnessed an unrelenting effort by researchers to produce a variety of models in which sustained growth can occur in the absence of exogenous growth in productivity. Similarly, the empirical front maintained an intense search for variables that correlates with growth performance (Rebelo, 1998). In quest of the above, a number of studies in Africa have emphasized innovation as a crucial determinant of competitiveness and national progress. Undoubtedly, the capacity to innovate and bring innovation successfully to market is crucial for global relevance. Similarly is the recent awareness among policy makers that innovative capacity is the main driver of economic progress and a potential factor in addressing global challenges such as environment and health (OECD, 2007). Despite this outlook, a variety of processes that stimulates innovation needs to be discussed. This basically involves understanding the sources, nature and drives of innovation in order to set priority focus for developing Africa economies. Thought the neoclassical and the new growth theory have conceptualize innovation as an engine of endogenous growth and accounted for technology, learning and education as determinants of economic growth, yet a clear understanding of the concept is required in order to enable developing Africa economics channel investment appropriately. The concept of innovation is often misconstrued in most cases as a one step thing rather than an outcome of a coordinated and coherent intervention; it simply implies that Innovation succeeds a conscious and concerted knowledge accumulation process. Succinctly, economic theory classifies knowledge into three main categories: scientific knowledge, technological knowledge and entrepreneurial knowledge (Bacovic and Lipovina-Bozovic, 2010).

The last two decades has witnessed an upsurge in an empirical study of forces that shape the rate of economic growth. The theoretical front witnessed an unrelenting effort by researchers to produce a variety of models in which sustained growth can occur in the absence of exogenous growth in productivity. Similarly, the empirical front maintained an intense search for variables that correlates with growth performance (Rebelo, 1998). In quest of the above, a number of studies in Africa have emphasized innovation as a crucial determinant of competitiveness and national progress. Undoubtedly, the capacity to innovate and bring innovation successfully to market is crucial for global relevance. Similarly is the recent awareness among policy makers that innovative capacity is the main driver of economic progress and a potential factor in addressing global challenges such as environment and health (OECD, 2007). Despite this outlook, a variety of processes that stimulates innovation needs to be discussed. This basically involves understanding the sources, nature and drives of innovation in order to set priority focus for developing Africa economies. Thought the neoclassical and the new growth theory have conceptualize innovation as an engine of endogenous growth and accounted for technology, learning and education as determinants of economic growth, yet a clear understanding of the concept is required in order to enable developing Africa economics channel investment appropriately. The concept of innovation is often misconstrued in most cases as a one step thing rather than an outcome of a coordinated and coherent intervention; it simply implies that Innovation succeeds a conscious and concerted knowledge accumulation process. Succinctly, economic theory classifies knowledge into three main categories: scientific knowledge, technological knowledge and entrepreneurial knowledge (Bacovic and Lipovina-Bozovic, 2010).