SINO-AFRICA AND TECHNOLOGICAL TRANSFER: IMPLICATION ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Technology is critical to industrialization and economic development of any nation and it is one of the serious bottlenecks in African industrialisation. There is no doubt that technology transfer is one of the less studied subjects in China-Africa relations. Foreign direct investment is an important factor for both technology transfer and economic growth in developing countries like Nigeria. Technological advancement has also become a major challenge to industrialization in Nigeria and to improve her economy, the Nigerian government had made various efforts at acquiring foreign technology to drive the development processes. The Nigerian government had signed pact with the Chinese government in critical areas such as agriculture, manufacturing, military, industry, education and other social sectors through Technological Transfer (TT) and Technical Cooperation (TC) that will aid knowledge sharing and transfer for the purpose of improving the economy. In view of this, the study examines the implication the Sino-Africa and technological transfer on sustainable development in Nigeria. The study employed the interpretivism philosophy and the qualitative approach was adopted in data collection and analysis. Secondary data were sourced from the United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics (UNCTS) Database, Nigeria National Bureau of Statistics, and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Statistics database, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) figures were from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Database, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the United Nations Statistics Database (UNdata). Other sources were the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Database, International Financial Statistics (IFS) of the World Bank; publications of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other agencies of government as well as newspapers and journals. Also, key informant interviews were conducted with Chinese expatriates in Lagos and Ogun State, Nigeria. Data collected were analysed using content analysis method. Findings of the study reveals that there is no clear-cut policy statement on Sino-Africa technological transfer and knowledge sharing; thus, the Nigerian government cannot sufficiently absorb new technology from Chinese multi-national corporations as most of these corporations always come as agents of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) or contractors. The study concludes that adaptation and implementation of policy on technological transfer cannot promote sustainable development in Nigeria. The study recommends among others that knowledge and technology transfer should form the basis of a regulatory framework of the national FDI policy. Also, there is need for the establishment of training institutes in each State of the federation so as to facilitate technological transfer. In addition, there should be collaboration between the established training institutes and higher institutions of learning so that students can have practical knowledge on advanced equipment, methodologies and technologies that will engender sustainable development in Nigeria within a decade.