Keynote address by the Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Mr Buti Manamela on the ocassion of the Global Cleantech Innovation programme (GCIP-SA) awards, at the Hilton hotel, Sandton
Ms Matsi Modise, Chairperson of the board of the Technology Innovation Agency;
Mr Patrick Krappie, Acting CEO of TIA;
Mr Levy Maduse of UNIDO;
Kevin Braithwaite (recorded message), Network for Global Innovation;
Gerswynn Mckuur (recorded message), UNIDO Global;
Finalists of the global cleantech innovation programme;
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen.
It is my honour and privilege to speak to you this evening at this prestigious event- the Global Cleantech Innovation Programme Awards.
To help us develop a deeper appreciation for the grand challenges of our time and we as policy makers, scientists, entrepreneurs and activists must respond to these, the 2023 Global Risks Report of the World Economic Forum makes a number of sobering observations.
This Report observes that-
- As an economic era ends, the next will bring more risks of stagnation, divergence and distress;
- Geopolitical fragmentation will drive geo-economic warfare and heighten the risk of multi-domain conflicts;
- Technology will exacerbate inequalities while risks from cybersecurity will remain a constant concern;
- Climate mitigation and climate adaptation efforts are set up for a risky trade-off, while nature collapses; and
- Food, fuel and cost crises exacerbate societal vulnerability while declining investments in human development erode future resilience.
Given the complexity, transnational nature and far reaching impact of the challenges that this Report alludes to, it becomes immediately clear that, if we are to have any meaningful chance of effectively addressing these global challenges, we will have to also understand what are some of the key enablers for our capacity to address these challenges.
Once such key enabler is our capacity to recognise these challenges as borderless and therefore mobilise our capacity to come together and seek solutions to our shared problems, and do this regardless of which part of the world we may be live in.
This means we must develop a shared concern for the well-being and destiny of humanity. From the perspective of the Global Cleantech Innovation Programme, international cooperation is an absolute necessity now than ever before.
This is particularly true if viewed in the context of our commitments to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as well as the Paris Agreement. In this South African context such collaborations will include policy makers, agencies, civil society, business as well as the critical role that SMEs play in this space.
The second key enabler is the scientific knowledge at the disposal of humanity and how this knowledge is mobilized with the view to create a more equal and humane world. By this I mean deliberately using science to achieve social and economic justice for all.
To be able to do this, individual countries will have to make deliberate investments in enhancing their scientific capabilities and in particular, their capacity to produce world class and game-changing technological innovations.
Related to this, is the growing realisation by scientists, innovators and policy makers that innovation is a key factor in enabling countries to achieve higher economic growth and improved qualities of life for the citizenry.
Informed by this realisation, as a country, our investment in science, technology and innovation is driven by our objective to accelerate sustainable and inclusive economic growth.
In this regard, we are guided by among others, our nation’s National Development Plan (NDP), 2030, which as you may be aware is our country’s long-term growth and development strategy and gives prominence to the role of science, technology and innovation.
In support of the vision of the NDP, as the Department of Science and Innovation, we recently adopted our White Paper on Science, Technology and Innovation (2019). Through our White Paper, we seek to provide a national and coherent approach to innovation for our country.
Equally important is the recognition by our White Paper on Science, Technology and Innovation that strategic partnerships between business, academia, government and civil society is critical if we are to effectively address the interconnected challenge of poverty, inequality and unemployment and of course our country’s energy challenges.
To enable the implementation of our White Paper on Science, Technology and Innovation, we also adopted another important policy guide- our Decadal Plan for Science, Technology and Innovation (2021).
To enable us our country to contribute to the global response to the challenges I referred to at the beginning of my address, our Decadal Plan identifies three Societal Grand Challenges (SGCs), which are-
- Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability;
- The Future of Education, skills and Work, and
- The Future of Society.
Furthermore, our Decadal Plan also recognises that the Circular Economy is a transition that will bring new economic growth to South Africa. Cleantech provides low-carbon technologies that will assist in the transition to a low-carbon economy that is circular and maintains natural resources in economic sectors.
Thereby reducing the absolute need to extract further resources from the environment and may through that transition protect and regenerate our biodiversity. There is therefore no doubt that the Global Cleantech Innovation Programme resonates with our own strategic priorities and this is why we are fully supportive of the TIA’s participation in this programme.
In fact, we wish to take this moment to commend TIA for the sterling results in their implementation of this Programme and the continuation of phase 2. As you may be aware, South Africa is one of the 15 countries that are part of the global GCIP programme.
As we continue our search for new sources of growth, some of which we can use to stimulate innovation in key sectors, we recognise the strategic opportunities that the green economy can provide in the form of job creation, skills development and promoting entrepreneurship for SMEs.
As a Department, we therefore view the SME sector as a strategic sector. This is why we have been implementing several instruments targeted at SME development and support. Some of these instruments include the following-
- The Seed Fund. This is implemented by TIA. It is an early-stage funding instrument aimed at assisting innovation actors such as higher education institutions, science councils and small, medium and micro-sized enterprises to advance their research outputs and ideas, and to develop prototypes, proofs of concept and business cases;
- The research and development (R&D) tax incentive. This is an indirect business support instrument aimed at promoting private sector investment in R&D in the country. R&D is required in order to boost innovation in the business sector, improving South Africa's ability to improve existing products and processes and develop new ones;
- Then there is the Innovation Bridge Portal. This is a digital innovation showcasing instrument that partners the Department of Science and Innovation, the World Bank Group and the Department of Small Business Development;
- The portal seeks to build an innovation ecosystem by providing relevant information to accelerate connections and collaboration within the national system of innovation and to encourage greater interaction between innovators, industry, and government in support of commercialization;
- Then there is the Grassroots Innovation Programme. This is alsoimplemented by the Technology Innovation Agency. This programme is aimed at commercialising local innovations from citizens using local resources and capabilities working outside the realm of formal innovation institutions. Grassroots innovators are individuals who undertake innovations to solve local challenges; and
- Then there is the Innovation Fund. Work towards the Innovation Fund as a separate, standalone public-private funding partnership aimed at harvesting and commercialising South African tech innovations, began in the 2019/20 financial year;
- The IF serves as a new national financing instrument, involving formal equity finance funded by investments from the public and private sectors to de-risk early stage technology development phases and create opportunities for later stage investments from the private sector;
- What makes the Innovation Fund different from other funding instruments is its focus on supporting tech innovation and commercialisation in high-risk technology development initiatives, such as the early development and expansion stages of technology-based South African start-ups or fledgling firms, including SMMEs;
- The IF has only been operational for about 18 months. While the impact of the IF was at the earliest envisaged in the medium (3 - 5 years) to long (5 - 10 years) term, the implementation of the Fund is already showing positive developments;
- For instance, as of December 2022, a total of seventy-five (75) innovative enterprises received funding support across various stages of the business development life cycle. As it relates to source of intellectual property, the majority (64%) of the IF investees were based on the Intellectual Property (IP) portfolio previously generated from public-funded investments;
- As it relates to stage of business development, the overall assessment of the funded initiatives in terms of the business development life cycle indicated that 42% of the enterprises were at the pre-commercial level while 58% were at the commercialisation level.
These are some of the benefits that SME’s are yielding from the tech- entrepreneurship instruments and vehicles we have established. In conclusion, as the Department of Science and Innovation we have a long standing and proud association with the GCIP programme, which goes back to the year 2011.
It our sincere hope that our relationship with the GCIP programme will grow stronger. As we know, today is mainly about celebrating the hard work and excellence of the SMEs in the cleantech space.
We are proud of what each of you have achieved and it is my hope that your success will give impetus to our efforts to create generations and generations of SMEs that will sustain this culture of innovation and environmental sustainability. Congratulations and best wishes for the future.
