Bioscience Innovation System in eastern
Africa: Opportunities and Challenges
Julius Ecuru
BIPCEA

Synopsis
• A bioscience innovation system is evolving in
eastern Africa. The people and organizations
are there; they just need to interact better.

Where do we want to be?
• Countries in eastern
Africa have a common
aspiration & vision:
– i.e. to achieve middle
income country status as
soon as possible (before
2030?)
• Challenge, “how to get
there?”

A shift in paradigms?
• For over 2 decades, priority was on Poverty
Reduction Strategies (PRS) and MDGs.
• This was necessary to provide essential social services
(expanding access to health, education, infrastructure, etc); but
has not been sufficient to build a foundation for long-term
sustainable economic growth because outputs desired had to be
immediate, short term.
– But fruits from research & innovation usually ripen after many years,
long term.
• But now, dev’t efforts are increasingly characterised
by a quest for wealth creation.
• from “Poverty reduction” – “Prosperity realisation”

The key drivers
• Exploiting the natural resource base
– Minerals,
– Oil and gas
– Genetic resources
• Although the question always is in what form? Raw or
value added
• Capitalising on the growing services sector
– ICTs, infrastructure, education, health care, eco-
systems services

Rising population, a double edged
sword!
• Eastern Africa, to be world’s
most populous region by 2050
(UNFPA, 2010)
– >700 million p’le
– >50% urban
– >50% below 15 yrs of age
• Both sides of the sword
demand new solutions
through science, technology
and innovation:
– Productive & competitive
private sector
– Sustainable eco-solutions

Evolving a modern bio-economy in
the region is the more sustainable
growth pathway!
• Why?
– A rich genetic resource base;
– Increasing demand for renewable
bio-resources brought about by
rapid globalization & climatic
changes
• Calestous Juma’s optimism:
– “This opportunity offers Africa
another opportunity for
technological leapfrogging.”
– Juma (2011)

A functional bioscience innovation system is
the key building block of bio-economy
• i.e. a complex network of
people & organizations
interacting and learning from
each other in
developing, adding value and
processing local crops & other
bio-resources.

Key actors
• Public universities and
research organizations
making progress:
– E.g. with tissue culture

• E.g. with converting ag-waste into bio-energy

• Private sector slowly
coming in;

• International
and regional
organizations
playing a
significant role

Lessons
• The public sector (universities, research orgs, &
government) can catalyse a rapid evolution of
an eastern Africa bioscience innovation system,
and specifically support the creation of new
bio-based enterprises, or significantly enhance
the competitiveness of the existing ones.

Role of the public sector remains crucial!
• While in developed countries, private sector is
a key player in innovation and creating new
modern bio-business opportunities, in
developing countries like most of eastern
Africa, the public sector will for some time
have a central role in supporting and engaging
private sector in innovation efforts (creating
modern bio-enterprises).

What we need
1. Responsive policies
– Policies should be enabling policies
• Share visions, clear goals and sufficient incentives
• Safety and quality of products
• Intellectual property management systems
• Favourable business climate, e.g. taxation regimes
2. Stable financing mechanisms
– Innovation funding on a competitive basis, make it annual
and sizeable;
– Government and donor support is absolutely necessary

What we need …
3. Competitive products, entrepreneurship skills
enhancement and search for new markets
– Researchers & scientists, get into business;
• requires flexible regimes at universities/public research
organizations
– Have in place “business” incubation services,
– Financial institutions, enhance capacities to assess
bio-based business proposals.

What we need…
4. Enhance human & infrastructure capacities
– Increase funding to universities, to produce
graduates with more practical skills
5. Enhance linkages & communication
– With all actors in the system;
• Especially, universities and public research
organizations should be better linked;

What are we doing?
Bio-Innovate technological clusters
Bioscience Innovation Policy Consortium for eastern Africa (BIPCEA)

BIPCEA
• Assists in putting in place effective policy
support mechanisms at national and regional
level which enable commercialization of Bio-
innovations.
• Identify and offer solutions to critical policy issues
• Provide a platform for interaction & sharing ideas
• Provide tools for effective management of bio-innovations

Moving forward
• Countries in eastern Africa can use bio-resources
as a strategic base for sustainable economic
growth;
• Ultimately developing a more sustainable and
resource efficient “Bio-economy”

• Let’s go Bio!
• The journey may be rough, but it is
not too far.

THANK YOU
• Acknowledgement
– BIPCEA
– Sida
– Bio-Innovate PMO