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Firm-level innovation in sub-Saharan Africa remains under-researched. To address this gap, this paper examines the obstacles to innovation faced by small, micro, and medium-sized enterprises (SMMEs) in South Africa. Using the 2018 Business Innovation Survey, we apply the double-hurdle model to investigate factors determining a firm's decision to invest, and the intensity of innovation. Our results show that cost and institutional obstacles were significantly more important as disincentive factors for medium-sized enterprises while knowledge obstacles were significant disincentive factors for large enterprises. In addition, market obstacles hampered investment among large enterprises. Interestingly, none of these factors was found to deter innovation intensity among small and micro enterprises. The study findings suggest that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to innovation policy and intervention programmes to support innovation within firms of different sizes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The South African bioeconomy strategy did not clearly articulate the measurement framework to monitor the implementation of the strategy. This paper provides an analysis of bioeconomy patents, the most prolific organizations and citations at the EPO and USPTO for South Africa, BRICS, Egypt and Nigeria during the Ten-Year Innovation Plan 2008–2018. The terms 'biotechnology', 'medical technology', 'pharmaceuticals' and 'selected environment-related technologies' were used to search for patents. The OECD patents by technology, the EPO PATSTAT and the USPTO PatFT databases were used to map patents and citations. The results show that South Africa ranked last in the BRICS group but produced a higher number of patents than Egypt and Nigeria. The number of patents generally decreased for the selected countries except for China. The total citations for the selected countries was generally inconsistent. The important innovators for South Africa in the bioeconomy are mainly universities and public research institutions. A new fiscal approach to encourage knowledge application in bioeconomy in South Africa is required. Incentives from government that encourage collaboration between research institutions and industry to direct research with industry application are required. The study contributes to the development of metrics to monitor the bioeconomy in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Persistent poverty is a major developmental challenge for South Africa and has multifaceted dimensions. This paper profiled and investigated poverty transitions among rural households in 22 district municipalities in South Africa. Foster-Greer-Thorbecke indices were applied to panel data from the National Income Dynamics Study from 2008 to 2017. Findings indicate that poverty levels varied across districts and poverty was most prevalent in Zululand, OR Tambo and Sisonke districts. Furthermore, districts with high poverty rates also had high poverty gap ratios. Poverty transition analyses revealed that in 82% of the districts, poverty declined between 2008 and 2017, while it increased in 13% of the districts. This transition was not mirrored between waves, with the majority of households remaining in the same poverty status between waves. The study recommends that these traditional rural districts be a major focus of poverty alleviation efforts. The role of the state in providing stability to combat poverty is encouraged through promotion of higher education. Additionally, support for agriculture as a business is also recommended. Collaborations between district municipalities and provincial departments of agriculture could facilitate this. The study adds to existing literature by providing insights from disaggregated profile and analysis of rural poverty in district municipalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New technologies are playing a fundamental role in the postmodern era of globalization where interpersonal interactions at the international level and the exchange of goods, services, information and capital are the basis of all activities. The agriculture sector is constantly facing numerous challenges including the steady growth of the population, climate change, the increasing number of catastrophes, the loss of biodiversity and the spread of parasites. This paper analyzes the impacts of Blockchain applications in agriculture and the food supply chain, through a survey literature review, providing the various players in the agriculture value chain with new tools and key technologies to improve production and distribution processes. To demonstrate the importance of applying the Blockchain in the agriculture sector, especially for emerging countries, the case of South Africa is examined. This focus is one of the unique aspects of this paper, which is the first to deal with this kind of solution applied to the South African context. Our findings indicate that Blockchain, in the e-agricultural context, has the potential for reshaping the entire sector, contributing also to the resolution of the food crisis. This paper discusses the overall implications, limits, challenges and potentials of these applications, from a critical point of view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the early stage of business, which is where most new ventures fail, many entrepreneurs experience discrepancies between their entrepreneurial expectations and business realities. These discrepancies referred to by this paper as an entrepreneurial gap (EG) are, therefore, among other factors, professed to be responsible for the high attrition rate of emerging ventures in South Africa. An oversight in this area of EG, despite the provision of most required resources, may still lead to business failure. This paper argues that there is more yet to be comprehended regarding early-stage business success, concerning the entrepreneur component. The purpose of this paper was to recognize and classify factors responsible for establishing entrepreneurial gaps with the intent to improve the level of preparedness among emerging entrepreneurs. A qualitative approach with in-depth interviews was employed in the data collection. ATLAS ti 8 was used to unpack factors that instigate entrepreneurial gaps while posing challenges to emerging entrepreneurs in the early stage of business. The groups identified were: entrepreneur management, familism and personal management. The findings provide information that is credible to improving the level of preparedness among emerging entrepreneurs, and could be used by mentors, coaches and relevant support structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Post-Apartheid South African Government has produced three white papers (1996–2008), (2008–2018) and (2018–2028) on science technology and innovation for national development. In all these policy documents, science and technology-based industries are considered as priority areas in socioeconomic development. Using the Technological Capability (TC) framework, this paper is an attempt to assess South Africa's national TC, using patent data from the WIPO Patentscope database. Patents granted to South African applicants or inventors are considered to measure the TC of South Africa. Data show that in recent years there has certainly been an increase in patenting activity in South African industries and other sectors. However, a clear and significant trend in patents is yet to emerge. Based on the IPC codes, most patents were granted in A61K (566 patents) and G06Q (518 patents). The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, South Africa (170 patents) is the most prolific institute followed by the University of Cape Town (148 patents). Although the number of joint patents is limited, the growth in their numbers in recent years shows an increase in collaboration activity among different actors. The University of Cape Town is the most active among the South African institutes in terms of collaborations. The study concludes with policy lessons relevant to the South African context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Business incubation is a growing phenomenon in South Africa. Using a qualitative research approach, specifically in-depth interviews with business incubator (BI) managers (CEOs, directors, executives, founders, and sponsors), this study reports on the perceived economic value of Johannesburg-based, fintech-focused BIs and the business gains achieved from the activities of BIs. Applying theory related to business incubation, this paper finds that business incubation is equally about assisting and developing start-ups and entrepreneurs as it is about the business gains that BIs extract from the process. Moreover, private sector stakeholders, particularly banks, are perceived as the primary sponsors of fintech BIs in South Africa, and they invest for various business and socio-economic reasons. Foremost among these is business diversification and compliance with South Africa's affirmative action policies, which feature prominently as the primary benefits the banking BIs gain from the process. We discuss this as the positive duality of business incubation. Finally, we suggest several managerial and policy level implications related to our findings, including the importance of strengthening triple helix partnerships and using regulatory sandboxing to facilitate fintech innovations. Overall, this study contributes to our empirical understanding of BIs in emerging economies broadly and fintech-focused BIs in South Africa in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Africa is one of the countries in Africa that has a high COVID-19 virus infection rate. The government of South Africa introduced the COVID Alert SA App, a contact tracing mobile application (App), to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus. This paper reports on the challenges users experienced when using the COVID Alert SA App. Using the design-reality gap model, the study analyzed online user reviews of the App and government reports. The qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis to highlight insights on the challenges of using the COVID Alert SA App. The findings indicate that public awareness was a major limitation of the App, amongst others, including a lack of trust relating to privacy and security when using the App, and a lack of technical support. The insights can be useful for developers, researchers, policymakers, and other stakeholders to improve the adoption and use of the contact tracing App to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Africa's poor economic performance in recent years has prompted calls by policymakers for structural transformation. To break the impasse, a stronger focus on innovation is one strategy the country has articulated through a new White Paper on Science, Technology and Innovation. Writing from this policy context, we adapt the revised contingent effectiveness model of technology transfer by including indigenous knowledge as a transfer object and emphasizes citizen needs and reparations as part of the demand environment, and appropriation as a transfer medium. Analytically, our use of this adaptation is to critically reflect on the typology of indicators produced in the first South African national survey of intellectual property and technology transfer at publicly financed research institutions. We find the dimension of least representation but presumably greatest significance in the typology is that of 'public value'. Our contention is that the output-based and commercially-biased indicators of technology transfer activity, which predominate in the typology, are insufficient to inform decision-making on technology transfer policy in a context of profound national socio-economic challenges and deep historical legacies of indigenous knowledge misappropriation. Broader evaluation data would form a richer, more inclusive evidence-base to inform new investments, as well as ongoing policy assessment, at both institutional and national level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Africa's general election of 2019 posed many challenges, some of which threatened the credibility of its result, and the entire election process. Some of the challenges were multiple voting, many hours of queuing, which led to fatigue, and a significant decline in the number of voters owing to the limited timeframe. These factors heighten the need for m-voting as an alternative or complementary method of voting in the country. Owing to similar challenges, many studies have been conducted, which consequently focused on development and strengthening of security features of e-voting and m-voting applications. However, many countries, including South Africa are not deploying the applications because of their complex nature, such as not being able to trace and track its components. The complexity is attributed to the lack of an architecture framework. This paper presents a technical architecture framework, to support and guide the development and implementation of m-voting applications, to possibly eradicate complexity and enhance the electoral process in South Africa. The outcome of this study was based on findings from analysis of existing materials and semi-structured interviews, in which the hermeneutics approach was employed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The newly elected South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, set an ambitious objective to attract US$100 billion Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) for South Africa's sustainable socio-economic development. This paper determines differential factors that influence the flow of FDI into South Africa. The objective of this study is to assess factors that affect the flow of FDI into South Africa. Data analysis is performed from the 217 foreign exchange practitioners, registered and working at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in South Africa by performing both ordered logit and Bayesian analyses. Our results showed that the following are the most important FDI determinants factors: (1) the provision of economic incentives; (2) trade regulation and policies; and (3) high expectations of economic return on investments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Africa has rich energy resources but continues to remain an energy poor continent. The industrialization potential of the continent and its rapidly growing population have caused a sharp increase in demand for electricity. South Africa and Nigeria are the biggest economies in Africa with large appetites for energy. South Africa, using its vastly developed and industrial economy, produces about 50 GWe of electricity, the highest of any African country. In contrast, Nigeria produces far less for a population four times the size of its African economic rival, South Africa. Without solving the energy deficit, neither economic growth nor sustainable development and improvement of citizens' welfare will be possible. An effective way to solve the energy shortage may be the introduction of nuclear power plants. Nuclear power is not only able to overcome the electricity deficit in African countries, but can also contribute to a soft transition from environmentally polluting fossil-fuelled power plants to carbon-free technologies. However, for various reasons, there is strong opposition to nuclear energy development in these countries. This paper seeks to answer the question of whether the construction of nuclear power plants in Africa is the optimal solution to the continent's acute energy deficit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature revealed that 70–80% of South African small businesses, including informal micro-enterprises, fail in the first year of their existence. Innovation has been recognized as a catalyst that can enhance informal micro-enterprises' probabilities to survive and transform them from survivalists to sustainable businesses that grow the economy and create jobs. As far as it can be reasonably determined, there has not been a systematic review of the literature on innovation activities of informal micro-enterprises in the Gauteng province, South Africa. This study aims to present a systematic review of the literature, as well as research gaps identified in the literature, and future research opportunities. This paper thus systematically reviews the literature on innovation activities of informal micro-enterprises in the Gauteng province. The study revealed that the innovation capacity of informal micro-enterprises is severely hampered by innovation tradition and social tax. Subsequently, informal micro-enterprises engage less in innovation activity and those that do innovate often engage in incremental rather than radical innovation. Radical innovations are more crucial than incremental innovations. Thus, there is a need for researchers and government organizations to establish initiatives that can aid the informal micro-enterprises to engage more in radical innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]