Increased Funding for Research In Higher Education in Africa is a Matter of Urgency

Higher Education (HE) plays a fundamental role in all major economies albeit the impact depends on the quality of research being churned out of those institutions. And I believe quality is not relative given there can be set metrics that define (or can be set to define) what quality research looks like. One such metric is the amount of novel innovations that come out of universities.
However, it is worth noting that the quality of research is directly related to the level of funding available. For instance, funding helps researchers purchase equipment and consumables for conducting experiments and develop prototypes for trials. Without those much-needed resources, there is just so much serious research that can be undertaken.
Increased Funding in Higher Education Necessary
There have been divergent views on funding research in higher education in Africa. Some factions think that universities for example should be able to diversify their income sources to enable them to meet their financial obligations without a hitch. This makes perfect sense as a long-term goal and vice chancellors and university boards should be thinking along these lines with a lot of seriousness.
The fact though is that we are not there yet and will not be any time soon. So, before we get there, enough funding for our research from the government is aptly necessary. Why do I say so? Globally, the best economies spend relatively higher amounts of their GDP on research and development.
In a comparative look at African countries’ expenditure on research and development, the findings are disappointing. Kenya for instance spends less than 0.5% of its GDP on Research (0.41% in 2022 precisely). The largest spender in Africa is Egypt which spent about 1.02% (2022) of its GDP on R&D which is paltry compared to Angola for instance which spent 0.03% (2016) of its GDP on research.
The differences can be seen in terms of innovations and opportunities developed as a result of the ripple effect. Some of the major economies in the world spend on average 2.5 – 5% of their GDP on R&D with good portions of these funds funding research in higher institutions of learning.

It is worth noting that the political class plays a huge role in determining what these percentages ought to be. As the quality of progress of a country largely depends on the leadership, so does the quality of policies including those that determine such things as funding in higher education.
A person without a goodwill and keen interest in research in higher education perhaps due to a lack of proper understanding of the huge role it plays will not care much about it. And just like that, not just a section but a whole country suffers as a result. A focus on basic education is very important but so is on research in higher education.
Strong Industry Collaborations Critical in Substituting Government Funding
One thing that stands out in the Europe and US is the enormous collaboration that exists in higher education and with industry. Not only is it quite active and complementary but also deliberately supported by the various actors.
As the industry partners encounter pain points, they reach out to universities and provide funding for innovations addressing their issues. By that, the universities get extra resources to support them in developing their research muscles, and the industry organisations gain by adopting some of those innovations and rolling out products that address client needs sometimes at exceeded levels.
The only downside to these in Africa is that governments make deliberate efforts to make the business environment hostile and unsupportive to the extent that the same organisations that are supposed to develop these collaborations lack the goodwill to do so.

Addressing the Silos thinking
Although some organisations in Africa may argue that they cannot collaborate with universities for research purposes due to resource constraints, some are capable but choose not to do so. The different actors in these scenarios believe that there is no interrelationship between these organisations and universities or even some of the policies implemented in the different ministries.
The moment there is a clear understanding that the different institutions are interlinked and affect each other, perhaps then we will begin to see a difference in how things are done in African countries.
Corruption should also be addressed as it affects higher education research funding. The amount of money lost due to corruption is colossal. Such monies, should they be addressed, can go a long way to transform the economy, especially in funding research in higher education.
By strengthening the support system for research in higher education through incubation and start-up centers, capacity can be robustly developed and eventually have a clear chain of support for entrepreneurship post-institutional research.
Silos thinking is not good for systems. Should we begin addressing collaboration among the different players in an economy in an efficient manner, we will thus address so many other issues indirectly. It is high time we understand that industry, government, higher education and the general public interplay in working towards developing high-impact research institutions that are transformative to economies.

For Africa, this is not an option but a necessity. It could be that some governments are trying but the rate is irredeemably low. The efforts need to be doubled if we are to see any sensible reduction in overdependence on the West for things we can comfortably do for ourselves within the continent. The choice is ours at the end.
However, it starts and ends with us, the types of leaders we choose and what our priorities are. One fact though remains, increased funding in higher education is a matter of urgency that needs addressing ASAP.