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This paper investigates the determinants of venture capital investments across 25 African countries over the period 2014–2019. In particular, it considers the significance of innovation and digitalization in Africa's venture capital activity. The results show that digital infrastructure, high‐technology exports, internet coverage, market size, minority investor protection and government effectiveness are the main drivers of venture capital deals in Africa over the period examined. More generally, these findings highlight that digital infrastructure and connectivity, innovation and institutional frameworks all play an important role in shaping a favorable environment to attract venture capital funding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Now, more than ever, infrastructure integration in Africa has become critical to recalibrating Africa's growth strategy toward increased intraregional trade, especially in an era of global isolationism, protectionism and supply chain disruptions from COVID and the war in Ukraine. This paper investigates the extent to which infrastructure development and integration can act as a catalyst for trade, innovation and income improvements in Africa. Using panel data analysis, we show that the infrastructure sector with the strongest multiplier effect on economic activity is the information and communication technology (ICT) sector, followed by the transport sector, the electricity sector and, last, the water sector. This ranking of the catalytic role of infrastructure sectors should guide policy prioritisation on infrastructure investments to accelerate growth and unlock the potential of the AfCFTA. Benchmarking exercises on infrastructures' catalytic role in the regional economic communities (RECs) show that infrastructure has had the strongest impact on economic outcomes in the East African Community bloc, making the EAC a type of flying‐geese RECs for other regions to emulate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes the factors influencing financial inclusion and financial resilience in Africa. Using national surveys of 40 African countries and the doing business database, multiple models are performed to analyze financial inclusion drivers. The results show that individual characteristics, barriers to formal accounting, financial literacy and innovation condition the decision to have a traditional or mobile account. Informal savings are common among women, youth and in rural areas while formal savings predominate among men, the elderly and in urban areas. A high level of education and income leads people to migrate to formal savings. For business purposes, informal savings are preferred while for old age, individuals resort to formal savings because of interest rates. Social lifestyles make informal credit predominate in Africa. However, when people have employment, high income or education, they turn more to formal credit to preserve their reputation because of the respect and popularity they enjoy in their community. Marriage, financial literacy and innovation improve the resilience of individuals, while employment increases their vulnerability. Key policy recommendations are to improve the banking sector, institutions, innovations and income‐generating activities to attract women and reduce the gender gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world faces formidable, but manageable, challenges in achieving food security in a world growing beyond 9 billion people in the coming decades. Five big challenges will necessitate shifting innovation strategy to place greater emphasis on sustainable increases in diet quality, on total factor productivity ‐ not just crop yield ‐ growth, on social protection programs, on Africa, on post‐farmgate agri‐food value chains, on risk management, and on reducing the land and water footprint of food production. We must be progressive in both senses of the term, having faith in science as an engine of societal advance, and standing with marginalized populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Nigerian movie industry, known as Nollywood, has attracted an impressive degree of research interest since its debut in the 1990s, resulting in a dedicated transdisciplinary research niche called Nollywood studies. Nollywood is situated as disruptive of historic and contemporary African movie culture, underscoring Nollywood's significance as a phenomenon "fundamental to Africa's self‐representation." In this study, we examine Nollywood in relation to its collaborative model of innovation, its unique form of openness and other factors implicated in its creative diffusion as a phenomenon across Africa and its diaspora. We also explore Nollywood's emergence as an unexpected creative force in the world of entertainment. The study evaluates the evolutionary interface between technology and entrepreneurship as a dynamic process in the progress and transformation of Nollywood. Complementing the issue of technology, as a factor in Nollywood's evolution, the study identifies a complex aggregation of other factors, including culture, ethnicity, marketing and entrepreneurial ingenuity, liberal art infrastructure and Nigeria's abundant social capital and how they have coalesced to put entertainment alongside oil and agriculture as one of the highest employers of labour and as a surprising dispenser of economic oxygen in Africa's most populous country and its largest economy. Our starting premise is that Nollywood owes its evolution to technological innovation and many unexplored contextual contingencies. The study also identifies and examines forms of openness in Nollywood, within and outside of existing paradigms, and how they factor into the industry's success. Nollywood operates in a fluid borderline between formal and informal frameworks. In Nollywood, a pragmatic and evolving approach to intellectual property systems and openness reflects aspects of its unique business model with contextual sensitivity and, in a way, advances its transnationalisation, albeit counter intuitively. Nollywood represents a grassroots indigenous entrepreneurial cultural initiative. Our project provides insights into the scalability potential of the Nollywood phenomenon and its cross‐sectoral ramifications for innovation and entrepreneurship on the African continent. The study applies a combination of methodological strategies aimed at eliciting, reifying and drawing substantively on industry practitioners' voices and perspectives. It taps into stakeholders' mastery, institutional history, and knowledge of Nollywood's evolution and its modus operandi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Given the role that innovation plays as an engine for economic development, we examined the enabling factor of institutions in Africa. Particularly, attention was given to determining the equivalent effects of institutional development on innovation. A sample of 40 African countries over the period 1996-2012 was employed, and our baseline equation was estimated using the system generalised method of moments ( SGMM) estimation technique. The empirical result reveals that government effectiveness and regulatory quality are two institutional measures that have the most equivalent impact on innovation. The extent of impact is an indication that institutions matter, especially when considering innovation in Africa. Therefore, to advance the rate of innovation in Africa, improving frameworks to drive regulations and enhance government effectiveness is a necessary instrument. Having these in place, Africa will be able to catch up with advanced economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

African economies are closely linked to natural resources and rely heavily on agriculture, largely rain fed. Agricultural development has long being considered of secondary importance in African economic development. As the current food crisis shows, it is important as this article argues to rethink not only agricultural policies, but also agricultural practices, and particularly the role science and innovation can play to address development and sustainability challenges. It is predicted that Africa will be particularly vulnerable to climate change and climate variability associated with biodiversity loss, food insecurity, water scarcity and an increase in drought frequency. This article examines pressing environmental challenges Africa is facing and discusses the role of science and technology solutions in meeting these challenges. An environmental performance country methodology is used to identify areas of best practice in achieving environmental policy targets, such as clean water or biodiversity conservation, as well as areas of action. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]