Caleb M ADELOWO (Ph.D)

Patent is a useful indicator of scientific outputs and techno-economic activities of countries. It is used to foster linkages between research and industrial organisations in an economy. However, it has not been adequately utilised by several developing countries in Africa, including Nigeria. Commercialisation of research results could be done through diverse means including technology licensing and spin-off activities. Nevertheless, Nigeria with several universities and research institutes has developed few inventions without deriving much benefit from them. This could be as a result of low investment in innovation infrastructure such as technology incubators and science parks, and low patent culture among researchers. The commercialisation process is also impeded by lack of venture capital, poor entrepreneurship culture among researchers, and poor linkage among the elements of National Innovation System (NIS). This article proposes deliberate efforts by the government to create platforms for interaction between research institutions and industries through science parks, technology incubators and increased venture fund. It is concluded that full implementation of the new science, technology and innovation policy is a necessary condition for addressing innovation gap and the challenges of technology commercialisation in Nigeria.

Promoting the development of clean technologies is critical in achieving a low-carbon economy in Africa. The objective of this paper is to shed more light on the role of IPRs in the efforts to mitigate climate change in Africa. This paper argues that the existing IP regime, specifically the patent system, does not necessarily preclude African countries from developing clean technologies that meet world standards. However, African countries lack capacities to adapt, develop, deploy and operate high low-carbon technologies which can give them competitive advantage in the global market. This article proposes that African countries should create an institutional set-up by which innovative strategies can easily be shared to accelerate and facilitate the development and diffusion of clean technologies. The paper concludes that unless African countries adopt appropriate policy mix to stimulate technological catch-up with rest of world in the area of clean technology development and diffusion, they will continue to lag behind and face deepening marginalization in the global economy, irrespective of the IP system regime.

This study examined the factors influencing transition from organizational employment to self-employment among high school teachers in Southwestern Nigeria. A cross-sectional survey was carried out and questionnaire was used to elicit information from respondents who were randomly selected. The Statistical Package for Social Scientists was used to analyze the data. The study revealed the significance of parent's involvement in business and entrepreneurial training in the development of entrepreneurial intention among respondents. Data analyses revealed associations between father's involvement in business and the propensity of offspring to engage in self-employment. The study concluded that the influence that parents' involvement in business will have on offspring's entrepreneurial intention should be a motivating factor to policy makers to formulate policies that will provide enabling environment for such businesses. Also, entrepreneurial training should be intensified for the youths to foster the development of entrepreneurship in the country.

Entrepreneurship is essential for the sustenance of economic vitality in today's market economy; and when a greater number of new businesses especially manufacturing enter the market, competition and economic growth are enhanced. We attempted to find a relationship between entrepreneurial activity and economic development on the one hand, and macroeconomic reforms and entrepreneurial activity on the other hand, using data specific to Nigeria. Ordinary Least Square (OLS) and correlation analysis were used. Our results show that increase in manufacturing firm entry would impact positively on GDP and that some past policies have given rise to increased entrepreneurial participation in Nigeria. We conclude that greater entrepreneurial activity generally means greater economic growth and that policy reforms targeted at economic revival should not choke entrepreneurship and capacity utilization __________________________________________________________________________________________

This paper examines researchers’ understanding of protecting research and development (R&D) outputs through patenting, creating wealth and deriving economic benefits from intellectual property in a latecomer economy. Data were obtained from 913 researchers in 50 selected universities, polytechnics and research institutes. Over 60% of the researchers claimed to be knowledgeable in patenting R&D outputs. Researchers from research institutes had the highest awareness rate while those from polytechnics had the least. About 40% of the respondents claimed to have generated inventions but only 13% had made attempts to applying for patents. Also, about 43% of the patent applications had been granted. Generation of wealth through patenting was not well recognized among the researchers absent aBayh-Dole-like IP policy in Nigeria. The paper concluded that there is a need for the introduction of patent education into the curricula of the Nigerian educational and research systems. Incentivising patent generation could also boost the morale of researchers to appreciate its importance in wealth creation and economic development.

Evidence abounds in both developed and newly-industrialising economies that the success of any nation hinges on the ability to collaborate, generate and deploy knowledge to solve socio-economic problems. This is exemplified by the propensity at which they churn out intellectual assets in the form of goods and services into the global market. Diverse strategies and policies, most especially effective collaboration and linkages, have been employed by these nations to build firms’ technological competence (absorptive capacity through adequate investments in STI, research and development (R&D) and Innovation capabilities) that ensures perpetual competitive advantage. However, these strategies among others are lacking in Nigeria’s efforts at gaining competitive edge and generate revenue from the new knowledge and technologies emanating from focused research and development (R&D) within the university and Research sub-system. Oblivious of the need to provide innovation infrastructure for ...

Past literature on incubation has examined the benefits and roles incubators played in the stimulation of local and regional economies. Studies have also shown enormous implications of technological and non-technological assistance to tenants’ enterprises. However, research on the process through which tenant firms acquire technological capability and learning opportunities within the incubators are rare, particularly from developing economy like Nigeria. Hence, this study explored various sources and opportunities that are available to the tenant firms of incubators in Nigeria to acquire technological capabilities which can sustain them during and after incubation. Data for the study was collected through questionnaire and unstructured interview conducted to elicit information on the sources of technological learning among sixty-three tenants and six managers of promising incubators in Nigeria. The results showed that there are internal and external sources of technological learnin...

The ability of tenant firms to survive after incubation is dependent on the relevant capabilities they acquired during the incubation process. Several studies have established the critical roles of incubation in fostering entrepreneurship and innovation at local, national and regional levels but the processes and mechanisms of technological learning and the capability building of the tenants has received much less attention. In response to the situation, the purpose of this paper is to assess various technological learning mechanisms through which tenant firms in the incubation system in Nigeria acquired the relevant capabilities (both technological and non-technological) that will sustain them after graduation...

This study intends to explore technological academic entrepreneurial engagements in Nigeria’s university system with a view to understanding the determinants and support structures available for promoting innovation in selected universities...