Abstract
A strong indigenous capacity for credible, salient and legitimate knowledge production is crucial to support African countries in developing their economies and societies inclusively and sustainably. In this article, we aim to quantify the current and historic capacity for African knowledge production to support the green economy in Africa, and identify important topical gaps. With a focus on topics relating to Governing Inclusive Green Growth in Africa (GIGGA), our research mapped how much Africa-focused research is being produced, from where and which African countries have higher or lower supply; and the topical focus of the research, mapping it against the African GIGGA policy discourses visible in government strategies. To do this we undertook a systematic review using a two-stage process, mapping the literature for GIGGA. This resulted in 960 verified citations. Content analysis of core metadata and article abstracts enabled mapping of the research focus. The analysis revealed a significant role for South Africa as both the pre-eminent producer of GIGGA literature as well as the geographic focus of GIGGA research, with Nigeria, Ethiopia and Kenya representing emerging loci of credible, African-relevant knowledge production. Topically, there was a strong emphasis on development, policy and environment while topics important for growth that is inclusive in character were infrequent or absent. Overall the results reinforced the view that investment is needed in research on inclusive green growth, linked to capacity building for knowledge production systems in Africa. Furthermore, from a policy perspective, policy makers and academics need to actively explore best to collaborate to ensure that academic research informs government policy.
Highlights
IntroductionAfter decades of economic decline, it experienced the fastest economic growth rate of any continent in the early 2000s before appearing to slow down again in recent decades [1]
Africa is at a crucial point in its developmental history
We argue here that for Africa to benefit from green growth, must that green growth be inclusive it must be underpinned by an effective knowledge system
Summary
After decades of economic decline, it experienced the fastest economic growth rate of any continent in the early 2000s before appearing to slow down again in recent decades [1] Against this background, while acknowledging the serious challenges of planning, coordination, capacity, finance and technology, commentators have noted that Africa is uniquely placed to exploit opportunities from the green economy to achieve inclusive sustainable economic transformation [2,3,4,5]. It has been argued that several of the planetary boundaries that keep the planet hospitable to modern life, have been crossed [20]
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