Africa should adopt homegrown solutions and technologies to spur faster economic growth — for technology cannot be transferred, a top research scientist says.
Dr Moses Makayoto, chief research scientist and head of the Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute (Kirdi), cited countries like Japan and India which rely on homegrown technologies for economic development.
MISGUIDED IDEA
“The idea that technology can be transferred is misguided. Most multi-nationals which invest in Africa are interested only in profits. They come here, package their products, make a kill and then leave,” he said.
“It is high time we relied on our own technologies — some of which have shown great promise — to achieve economic growth,” he added.
Dr Makayoto was addressing a capacity building workshop in Nairobi this week, jointly sponsored by the government and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
POLICY COHENRENCE
The workshop aimed at exploring ways of creating policy coherence for local pharmaceutical production and access to medicines in Kenya.
It was organised in partnership with the Health, Foreign Affairs, and Industrialisation ministries, as well as the World Health Organisation.
It was part of a series of workshops being held under European Union-funded projects on improving access to medical products in developing countries through capacity building for local production and related technology transfer.
