Indigenous innovation capability in Sub-Saharan Africa: a review of the Nigerian situation

Innovation process represents the long wave of value creation and it is the main powerful driver of future economic results of firms and nations. It therefore follows that for nations to compete suc-cessfully in the long run, they must innovate; and innovating entails building new competencies, new capabilities and new knowledge. This paper reviews the concepts of Science, Technology and Innovation and discusses the factors militating against the translation of scientific R&D outputs into innovations in Nigeria. The experiences of selected countries are reviewed to specifically highlight the importance of institutional framework and knowledge pool in the process of building indigenous innovation capability for national development. Policies, strategies and structures that could facilitate effective management of R&D and Innovation within the Nigerian knowledge system are suggested. We conclude that for Nigeria to progress in transforming R&D outputs to tangible products and services, appropriate mechanisms must be put in place in the areas of institutional framework, support structure, knowledge generation, innovation, education and technological entrepreneurship.