By Benard Ayieko
I am writing this piece on a day that the African continent is celebrating the ‘African Statistics Day’. On 18th November every year, African countries celebarate the African Statistics Day which is a day set aside to raise public awareness on the importance of statistics in socio-economic development. What caught my attention more was the theme of the day, “better data for better lives” which resonates well with the aspirations of ordinary citizens. Data is a key input of research while statistics is a vital component of research.
While data is essentially numbers that feed into research work, statistics on the hand is meaningful data. Therefore, data and statisitics play a critical role in carrying out research in an economy. Research has continued to play a key role in fostering social, economic and political development of nations world over. Our own Constitution that was promulgated in August 2010 – progressive as it is, is a product of research by professionals from different disciplines. Unfortunately, no serious and tangible awareness campaigns have been carried out in most African countries to sensitize or create awareness among citizens on the invaluable role that research plays in socio-economic development.
Most African countries tend to overlook the role of research in providing solutions to the existing socio-economic challenges. This then feeds negatively into policy work. The problem of lack of credible and reliable data is that most often than not, misleads research work. In the end, such research work may end up recommending spurious solutions to existing socio-economic challenges. Economists have largely agreed that countries with credible and reliable data tend to drive sound policy and decisions which are all evidence-based. Furthermore, its argued that Africa will not make significant strides in economic growth and development as long as investment in research and development remains meagre and a ‘business-as-usual’ affair.
Lack of proper information obtained through research is considered to be Africa’s main challenge towards achieving meaningful development. In the past, efforts have been made in research and development in science and technology where African States pledged to spend 1% of their Gross Domestic Product towards research but not so much has been achieved. This rekindles memories of the Abuja and Maputo Declarations that were well-intentioned but whose implementation remains minimal to date.
What this means is that there is need for African countries to allocate a given percentage of their Gross Domestic Product towards research as a key driver of economic growth. Kenya through her Vision 2030 blueprint would do well if it invested heavily in research for key projects that are crucial to the realization of her growth potential. Investment in research in key sectors of the economy such as tourism, agriculture, livestock and fisheries, wholesale and retail trade, oil and gas, manufacturing, information, communication and technology and financial services is instrumental in not only achieving the economic aspirations of the country but also in entrenching development in the economy. The same should apply to other African countries with similar aspirations like Rwanda and Uganda through their Vision 2020 and Vision 2040 respectively. If investment in research is prioritised by governments in Least Developed Countries, it will lead to evidence–informed policy and practice that helps in achieving meaningful growth.
With most African economies expected to register higher growth rates in future despite the existing economic challenges like increase in interest rates and depreciation of their currencies against the greenback, the calls for increased investment towards research in African economies wouldn’t have come at a better time. Proponents of increased investment in research have always argued that increased investment in research leads to an increase in human capital, development of pro-poor products and technologies and provides evidence to inform policy and practice which eventually scale-up economic growth and development.
Skeptics hold a view that research gobbles up a lot of resources that would otherwise be used directly on projects that have great impact on the poor. On the contrary, the opportunity cost of this argument is just too dire to contemplate. Infact, previous development projects that overlooked the role of research before being rolled out either fell into the headwinds at take-off stage or completely failed to achieve their intended development objectives. I am sure this is not the direction that governments of African nations want to take. Let us invest in research to avoid such pitfalls.
