One of the key ingredients of advancing any economy is the presence of researchers or scientists in all aspects of the country. From the manufacturing to service sectors, a country must have quality research outputs for creating and sustaining values for every stakeholder, irrespective of race, gender, religion, and political affiliations. Over the years, countries have continued to have various forms of educational institutions for the purpose of training professionals of varied types for academia and industry growth. Being one of the leading countries in Africa, Nigeria has over the years created and is still creating educational and vocational institutions for the purpose of improving the economy. Despite this, the country’s performance on a number of regional and global indicators for measuring the state of the economy remains mixed.
For example, Nigeria has shown a consistent trend of improvement in its Global Innovation Index rankings from 2013 to 2019. This suggests that there has been a concerted effort to enhance the innovation ecosystem in the country. However, there have been fluctuations in rankings over the years, indicating both progress and challenges in different aspects of innovation.
One area that warrants attention is human capital and research. While Nigeria’s ranking has improved slightly, it still lags behind other components of innovation. This underscores the importance of investing in education, skills development, and research to strengthen the foundation for innovation. Infrastructure remains a significant challenge for innovation in Nigeria. Although there has been some improvement in rankings, the country needs substantial investments in areas such as transportation, energy, and digital infrastructure to support innovation-driven activities effectively.
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Market sophistication and business sophistication rankings have shown fluctuations, indicating that Nigeria’s business environment can be volatile. Consistency and stability in these areas are crucial for attracting investment and fostering innovation. On the positive side, knowledge and technology outputs have seen improvement, suggesting progress in generating and disseminating knowledge. However, there is room for further investment in research and development to enhance technology outputs.
Nigeria’s creative outputs, including cultural and creative goods and service, have shown potential, as reflected in the rankings. This presents an opportunity for the country to harness its creative industries for economic growth. In terms of the overall GII ranking, Nigeria has hovered around the 110-120 range in recent years. While there has been some improvement, the country still faces challenges in breaking into the top tier of innovative nations. This underscores the need for a holistic approach to innovation, addressing multiple aspects simultaneously.
Figure 1: Rank per key innovation index indicator in 10 years
Source: Global Innovation Index, 2013-2022, Opolo Global Innovation, 2023
Implications for Commercializing Academic Research
The improving ranks in “Institutions” and “Human Capital and Research” suggest that Nigeria is gradually creating a conducive environment for research and innovation. Challenges in “Market Sophistication” and “Business Sophistication” indicate the need for stronger collaboration between academia and industry to bridge the gap between research and commercialization. The positive trend in “Knowledge and Technology Outputs” is promising for the commercialization of academic research, indicating that Nigeria is producing valuable knowledge and technology.
Academic research is the pillar upon which innovation and progress rest. Therefore, it drives technological advancements, fosters creativity, and contributes to economic growth. In a country like Nigeria, where the population is youthful and eager to tap into its intellectual capacity, commercializing academic research can be a game-changer.
Academic research is not just about generating knowledge; it’s about converting that knowledge into practical applications that benefit society. This process often involves partnerships between academia, industry, and government. In Nigeria, the ability to effectively commercialize academic research can lead to the development of cutting-edge technologies, the creation of new industries, and a significant boost to the national economy.
However, to enhance the commercialization of academic research, Nigeria should continue to address challenges such as investment in education, research institutions, and infrastructure while fostering collaboration between academia and industry. Addressing market-related challenges is also crucial for creating a thriving ecosystem for innovation and research commercialization. In specific terms, Nigeria has to do the following to ensure it reaps more from the researches across its university campuses.
More Targetted Funding
Adequate financial support for research and development is essential for producing innovative results. Nigeria must invest more substantially in research funding to stimulate a culture of academic entrepreneurship. Even though, the Tertiary Education Fund is already pumping billions of Naira into the universities via the National Research Fund and the Institution Based Research Fund, more still needs to be done especially on researches that have the potential to solve societal problems.
Provide Adequate Infrastructure
Robust infrastructure is essential for conducting cutting-edge research. While improvements have been made, further investments are needed in transportation, energy, and digital infrastructure. The laboratories must be well equipped to enable researchers conduct cutting edge research with in real time. The present practice of science based researchers taking samples abroad because of non-availability of latest equipment in Nigerian laboratories cannot help the research commercialization drive of the country.
Deliberate Promotion of Industry- Academia Collaboration
Bridging the gap between the academia and industry is crucial in research commercialization. The culture of collaboration needs to be fostered, with mechanisms in place to facilitate knowledge transfer and technology commercialization. What this implies is that local industries would benefit from solutions derived from researches in the Nigerian universities. There is a need to nurture a well-established ecosystem that facilitates the commercialization of academic research
Intellectual Property Support
Nigeria should enhance its intellectual property protection mechanisms, making it more appealing for investors to engage in research commercialization. Beyond this, the intellectual property protection ecosystem is not well established in Nigerian universities. Federal universities, working with the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), have Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer Office (IPTTO) offices. The sane could not be said of the state universities. There is a need to ensure that the ecosystem is well spread across the Nigerian universities for research commercialization dreams to be realized.
Creation of Innovation Hubs
Establishing innovation hubs can provide a nurturing environment for startups to emerge from academic research conducted in Nigerian universities. These centers would serve as a platform where researchers and students can incubate, and accelerate their research outputs. This would lead to the emergence of spinoffs from the universities.