Pretoria: South Africa must close the funding gap that prevents promising scientific research from being converted into commercially viable products and services, says Department of Science, Technology and Innovation Director-General Mlungisi Cele. Speaking on the sidelines of the 19th Pujiang Innovation Forum in Shanghai, Dr Cele said researchers were producing potentially valuable technologies, but many projects struggled to move beyond the laboratory and into the economy.
According to South African Government News Agency, Dr Cele described this difficult transition as the 'valley of death', emphasizing that 'it requires a massive injection of funding'. He noted that in South Africa, many projects fail to progress due to insufficient funding, even if they manage to reach the early stages of financing. This funding gap could result in research supported by the government and undertaken at universities, science councils, and other institutions not reaching the people and industries that need it.
To bridge this commercialisation gap, Cele highlighted the necessity for government and private sector collaboration in sharing the cost and risk of developing new technologies. He insisted that the State had a crucial responsibility to support strategically important innovations that conventional investors might consider too risky. 'The State must be prepared to invest in initiatives and projects that are high-risk. It must be fearless while also attracting private-sector investment,' he stated.
Cele proposed a 'twin strategy' of increasing government funding alongside attracting private investment to advance South African innovations. He stressed the importance of encouraging private investment at the nascent stages of projects, which are often too expensive and unattractive to conventional investors. Without such capital, researchers struggle to test, refine, manufacture, and introduce their innovations to the market.
The Director-General noted that South Africa could take cues from China's successful integration of scientific research, industrial development, and private-sector investment while adapting these strategies to fit its own economic and research capabilities. He emphasized the importance of international cooperation, particularly partnerships with countries like China, to provide South African researchers with access to necessary expertise and technology.
However, Cele cautioned against over-reliance on a single international partner for critical research funding or technology, citing the impact of the withdrawal of some United States funding on HIV and other disease research as a lesson in the risks of external dependency. Building the capacity to finance and commercialise locally developed technologies is not only an economic priority but also a matter of national sovereignty.
South Africa's challenge, Cele said, is to leverage international partnerships to bolster domestic capabilities while mobilizing local public and private capital. A more robust commercialisation system would enable the country to transform more of its scientific knowledge into businesses, services, industrial technologies, and solutions to social challenges. Cele concluded that efforts are underway to establish a coordinated science, technology, and innovation agenda that will help South Africa become more self-reliant.
Meanwhile, China has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening science, technology, and innovation cooperation with South Africa as the two countries strive to realize the practical implications of their upgraded strategic partnership. The Pujiang Innovation Forum, running from 11 - 14 September, includes exhibitions, discussions, and bilateral engagements involving governments, universities, science councils, and the private sector.