Africa’s innovation story cannot be told with borrowed metrics. While Africa’s mobile money service M-Pesa reshapes finance, and the network organisation AfriLabs supports innovation hubs and fuels grassroots tech, conventional science, technology and innovation (STI) measures overlook these advances. The real task is developing metrics that reflect Africa’s realities—where local innovation that improves lives matters as much as patents. Effective implementation of continental strategies like the Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa 2034 depends on developing innovation measures and indicators that capture Africa’s unique innovation paradigm.

As Africa prepares to implement the Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA-2034), it faces a fundamental hurdle: a lack of reliable STI data, with only three countries—Tanzania, Egypt, and South Africa—consistently collecting national R&D and innovation statistics since 2007.

The fourth African Innovation Outlook report (2024) noted serious gaps in African countries’ capacity to conduct regular R&D and innovation surveys. Many lack dedicated institutions and STI measurement is rarely embedded in national statistical plans. Collecting such data is resource-intensive, demanding trained personnel, stable funding and adherence to complex methodologies based on international guidelines. Also, why should African countries invest in tracking R&D expenditure when they know that the national R&D spend is low? What other types of STI data are most useful to support the implementation of STISA-2034?

Image generated using AI (StockJam, Freepik)

Grounding STI measurement in African realities

The problem of the (un)suitability of conventional STI metrics was raised in a special session at the first biennial Evidence for Development (Evi4Dev) conference hosted by the African Union Development Agency’s New Partnerships for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD) and the African Institute for Development Policy in May 2025.

The session—“Utilising STI indicators for informed science policy decision making in Africa”—examined the implications of using STI measures and indicators that are grounded in conceptual frameworks developed for advanced countries. Responding to the need for innovation theory and methods grounded in African realities, organisations such as the African Network for Economics of Learning, Innovation, and Competence Building Systems (AfricaLics), established in 2012, work to strengthen the capacity of STI researchers. An AfricaLics report published in the journal Innovation and Development proposed the following priorities for a research agenda for STI measurement in Africa:

• Aligning STI metrics with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
• Building robust data sets and governance frameworks.
• Developing new frameworks for firm innovation suited to African contexts.
• Measuring innovation in the informal sector, a significant but often overlooked part of the economy.
• Measuring the progress and impact of digitalisation in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).
• Increasing research to develop suitable indicators of progress towards environmental sustainability.

Carrying forward this research agenda will require continued collaboration between STI measurement experts (often located in national statistical offices, government departments and research institutes), innovation scholars and policymakers as key role-players in the STI measurement ecosystem. Understanding Africa’s unique innovation context is essential, but these insights must be supported by strong national institutions and coordinated data systems to be actionable.

Strengthening national STI measurement ecosystems

A second persistent obstacle is the disconnect between national statistical offices, institutions mandated to collect STI indicators, and STI policymakers. This weakens institutionalisation and scalability of measurement programmes. For over a decade, AUDA-NEPAD has led significant efforts to build STI measurement capabilities across Africa. Its African Science, Technology, and Innovation Indicators (ASTII) programme pioneered the introduction of R&D and business innovation surveys on the continent, with the support of organisations like the HSRC through its Centre for Science, Technology, and Innovation Indicators. The HSRC, on behalf of the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation, has conducted the South African national R&D and innovation surveys for more than two decades and has been at the forefront of developing and testing new STI indicators in Africa. ASTII tracks R&D expenditure, innovation performance, and scientific output across the continent, and is responsible for producing the African Innovation Outlook reports.

Since 2021, the HSRC has worked with African science granting councils through the Science Granting Councils Initiative’s (SGCI) Evi-Pol project, strengthening STI measurement capabilities. The focus has been on strengthening the management and governance of STI data towards improving data quality. While most African science granting councils collect and manage grants management data, some also measure R&D and innovation, providing important evidence for policymaking.

Regional initiatives reinforce this work. For example, bodies like the Southern African Development Community (SADC) STI Group play a crucial role in fostering a common understanding and approach to STI measurement within the SADC region. A recent Regional Training Workshop on STI Measurement in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, convened by the SADC STI Secretariat in partnership with AUDA-NEPAD and the HSRC, gathered statisticians and STI experts to address key gaps in R&D and innovation measurement. The workshop aimed to strengthen institutional collaboration and establish clear roadmaps for sustained STI data production, aligning with the SADC Protocol on Statistics and [AO1] STISA-2034.

These initiatives advocate for and strengthen national STI measurement capabilities as a foundation for policymaking, strategic planning, and benchmarking progress against international standards. Despite these efforts, many African countries still struggle to report their STI indicators consistently.

Institutional capacity alone is insufficient without sustained funding and political commitment to ensure consistent STI data collection and use.

Progress supported by consistent funding and political will

A critical, often understated third challenge is the lack of committed government funding and institutionalisation of STI measurement in Africa. As highlighted at the Evi4Dev conference and a recent SGCI report titled New Approaches for Funding Research and Innovation in Africa, few African science granting councils and other institutions responsible for STI data collection report regular financial support from their governments. Many rely on ad hocdonor funding to run national R&D and innovation surveys.

This irregularity leads directly to gaps in survey data, as national surveys are often only compiled when resources permit. Moreover, the financial instability and lack of consistent political support undermine the STI measurement capability-building programme, hindering the establishment of robust, permanent mechanisms for producing STI indicators. Compounding this issue is the longstanding disconnect between national statistical offices and the ministries or institutions explicitly mandated to collect STI indicators. While initiatives like the SADC’s Regional Training Workshop on STI Measurement attempt to bridge this gap, the historical lack of alignment has hindered the institutionalisation and scalability of measurement programmes. Without this crucial collaboration, STI data collection efforts remain fragmented and uncoordinated, leading to a patchwork of incomplete data.

Ultimately, these structural and financial challenges directly undermine the ambitious goals of a continental framework like STISA-2034. The strategy’s vision for an integrated, prosperous, and innovation-driven Africa is predicated on the availability of robust evidence to inform policy and track progress. Yet, the very mechanisms required to produce this evidence are hampered by issues of funding and institutional fragmentation, creating a significant roadblock to effective implementation.

Building sustainable STI measurement systems

The efforts outlined above have created momentum for change that could be sustained through the longevity of programmes and initiatives at continental, regional and national level, which bring together practitioners, academics and policymakers in a coordinated way. Discussions at the Evi4Dev conference highlighted the potential created by the SGCI for African science granting councils to strengthen their role as champions for more collaborative STI measurement partnerships.

While the 2025 launch of the AfricaLics STI Measurement Research Coordinating Area is a coalescing point for the development of contextualised new theory and methods for the African continent, the use of AI, alternative datasets and innovative alternative indicators will be important in these new methods.

Conclusion

To transform Africa’s STI measurement landscape, the path forward must be rooted in African realities, supported by resilient national STI measurement ecosystems, and sustained through consistent funding and political commitment. This means investing not only in technical tools and indicator refinement, but also in the institutions and experts that can lead context-specific measurement efforts across the continent. With grounded frameworks, stronger national capacity, and long-term political backing, STI measurement can evolve from a technical exercise into a strategic lever for inclusive development and innovation-driven growth in Africa.

Research contacts and acknowledgements

This article was written by Darryn Whisgary, a research manager (dwhisgary@hsrc.ac.za), Dr Il-haam Petersen, a chief research specialist (ipetersen@hsrc.ac.za) at the HSRC’s Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators (CeSTII), and Prof. Rebecca Hanlin, a professor of innovation and sustainable development, at the DSI/NRF/Newton Fund Trilateral Research Chair in Transformative Innovation, 4IR and Sustainable Development, at the University of Johannesburg, with inputs from Dr Glenda Kruss, acting divisional executive of the HSRC’s Research, Development, Science and Innovation Division, and Dr Nazeem Mustapha, director of HSRC CeSTII.

The research team also includes Prof. Abiodun Egbetokun (collaborative partner, De Montfort University), Dr Mbongeni Maziya (collaborative partner, University of Venda) and, from HSRC CeSTII, Dr Yasser Buchana, Dr Gerard Ralphs, Natalie Vlotman, Dr Mario Clayford, Dr Atoko Kasongo, Dr Nicole van Rheede, Pilela Majokweni, Mbali Bongoza, Setsoheng Mayeki, Lebogang Khoza, Natasha Saunders, and Rory Liedeman.

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