Africa’s Path to Growth and Sustainable Development: African Universities’ Collaborative Research in Technological Innovations, Utilization of Local Content Materials in the Production of Technological and Other Goods and Consumption of Locally-Made Goods

Abstract

This paper investigated Africa's path to growth and sustainable development: universities' collaborative research in technological innovations, utilization of local content in the production of technological and other goods and consumption of locally-made goods. The objective was to ascertain the relationship between African universities' collaborative research in technological innovations, utilization of local content materials in the production of technological and other goods and consumption of locally-made goods as a significant path to the continent's growth and sustainable development. The choice of this topic was justified because of its relevance to the current global emphasis on knowledge economy, skills acquisition and entrepreneurship. A survey design was adopted for the study. The population was made up of 15,000 university lecturers drawn from six universities and one polytechnic across the continent out of which a sample of 480 was identified based on cluster sampling. Four null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. A sixteen-item four-point rating scale was constructed and administered on the sample for data collection. Data gathered were tested with the t-test and ANOVA at p > 0.05 to ascertain the relationship between the variables. The paper found that there was a significant relationship between the variables under investigation. Based on this finding, it was concluded that there wasa significant relationship between African universities' collaborative research in technological innovations, utilization of local content materials in the production of technological and other goods, Africans' consumption of locally-made goods and Africa's path to growth and sustainable development. Three recommendations were made one of which was that a Pan-African Universities' Research Team in Technological Innovations should be established as soon as possible in the continent.