Page 28 - DPSA - Service Delivery Report

FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
slavery colonisation, and the struggles for national liberation fought against imperial metropoles that entangled and ensnared the countries that con- stitute the global South into world sys- tems at their relative disadvantage. Absolute disadvantage continues to be reproduced through unequal exchang- es and inequalities are increasingly maintained through military force.
Roger Karma recently reminded us that “... the British took the equivalent of $45 trillion from India during its rule and the United States stole $14 tril- lion worth of slave labor from Africa, without which the industrial revolution would not have been possible” (2019). As noted by Jason Hickle, “rich coun- tries aren’t developing poor countries; poor countries are developing rich ones” (2017).
How is Africa prepared for the next industrial revolution?
According to the International Energy Agency, approximately 14 per cent of the world’s population (estimated at 1.1 billion) does not have access to electric- ity and more than 95 per cent of those living without electricity are in countries in sub-Saharan Africa and developing Asia. While development in Asia has accelerated in recent decades, Africa’s rate of economic growth progresses off a very low base. It is thus clear that the global South in general, and Afri- ca in particular, has not benefited from the third economic-techno paradigm, which was enabled by the availability of modern electricity. It is therefore im- perative that the people of Africa hold their governments accountable for the state of relative underdevelopment and seek accelerated ways to redress the mal-distribution of scientific and technological infrastructure necessary for the continent to catch up with the means available to those in the global North.
Africa has a huge advantage in not needing to replicate failed mega-gen- eration projects that are resource-in- tensive, corruption prone and ecolog- ically disastrous. Rather, renewables should be mobilised and utilised closer to consumption, thereby eliminating
further carbon emission. Technologi- cal competencies are therefore para- mount, but need to be carefully oper- ationalised within socially determined parameters, and, most critically, within planetary boundaries.
What is the potential then for the new Industrial Revolution to lead to just transitions?
The technological capacities and ca- pabilities of the new Industrial Revo- lution hold huge potential to redress some of the existing negative human conditions, but only to the extent of amelioration. Radical transformations are necessary if a just transition is to be possible. This requires the inclusion of all the people of the continent in a democratic engagement that seeks endogenous development rather than merely shackling into global value chains and production networks.
Younger generations of Africans could be considered the motive force for en- suring transformation. It is therefore critical that young Africans are not ex- cluded from realising a just transition by ensuring that they have education and training systems that build their capacities and enable their capability formation. These systems need to be retained as public goods and not fur- ther privatised as the state continues to be hollowed out. Elite capture needs to be confronted and the democracy defended against further predation from the transnationals and their local comprador vendors and franchisee.
What do Africa and its people have to offer to the new Industrial Revolu- tion? Is home-grown innovation hap- pening in Africa?
Africa is the current home of nearly 17 per cent of the world’s population, nine of the 14 terrestrial biomes, and six climatic zones. Within the territory is a range of progressive initiatives that have domestic and regional constit- uencies. Numerous efforts to link the generation of knowledge with social- ly useful production hold much of the promise for a better life for all Africans. Home-grown innovation from Africa, as a cradle of humankind, has enabled
the widespread dispersal of us all as a species-being, through the diffusion of technological know-how emanating from creativity and curiosity.
In our contemporary conjuncture, the relegation of Africa as a territory of exclusion and marginalisation has certainly reduced Africa’s propensity to contribute to the global knowledge commons. Global commodity chains, global value chains, and global pro- duction networks largely operate within an international division of labour gov- erned by transnational corporations, multilateral institutions, and the mili- tary might of the more advanced and mature core capitalist countries. This gives rise to an apparent tendency to discount or reject “new or improved products or processes (or combina- tions thereof) that differ significantly from the previous products or process- es and that had been made available to potential users or brought into use” – or “innovation” as defined by the Or- ganisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) – emanat- ing from Africa.
Notwithstanding such prejudice and difficulties, initiatives for innovation abound across the continent, such as the Makerspace movement, science and technology incubators, and inno- vation hubs set up at the interface be- tween the post-school education and training system and communities and enterprises.
In its 2018 edition of the Innovation Prize for Africa, the African Innovation Foundation recognised ten major ex- amples, including:
• two molecular tests for the rapid, accurate and effective detection and load quantification of tubercu- losis and hepatitis C (Morocco);
• eNose sensor for tea processing (Uganda), which supplements cur- rent tea-processing procedures using low-power sensor devices to determine optimum levels of tea fermentation;
• Mobile Shiriki Network (Rwanda); a similar solar kiosk powered by strong solar panels and equipped with large capacity batteries, Inter- net-of-things sensors and a cus- tom-designed router, which offers
26 SERVICE DELIVERY REVIEW | Volume 12 No.3 of 2019