16.5 Government Initiatives to Enhance South Africa’s Bioeconomy
The landscape of innovation in the local bioeconomy
The National Development Plan of South Africa emphasizes the need to enhance the innovation system’s size and effectiveness, aligning it with sectors vital to the country’s growth strategy. The biotechnology landscape in South Africa is primarily research-driven, led by projects, science councils, and small biotech firms, with a notable absence of large indigenous biotech companies. Despite government investments exceeding R1 billion since 2002, sustaining the performance of biotech companies remains a challenge. The incorporation of biotech innovation centers into the Technology Innovation Agency aims to address this by bridging the innovation gap. The Technology Innovation Agency focuses on providing funding, intellectual property support, and stimulating technology-based product development. The National Biotechnology Strategy has supported a linear model of science innovation, while mature bio-economies, like the United States and Switzerland, emphasize creating enabling environments and incentives for innovation. A successful bio-economy demands knowledge-intensive skills, particularly in genomics, proteomics, and bioinformatics. The strategy recognizes the global skills shortage and advocates for integrated human resource development policies. The holistic approach of the strategy addresses interconnected issues such as human capital development, knowledge exploitation, market development, and governance. The emphasis is on building capabilities from the ground up, accelerating support facility development, and localizing technology. Intellectual property management, foreign direct investment strategies, and strategic partnerships are key components of the strategy to expedite market and industrial development, aligning with global trends in knowledge and intellectual property flows.