The Sunday Mail
Victoria Ruzvidzo
FOR a long time now, economies have been clinging onto the concept of globalisation, as they try to widen their outcomes through others.
Globalisation is not a bad concept per se, but it does not perfectly align to the definition of ‘economy’ in its truest sense.
An economy exists in a geographical area.
The world is a geographical area too, but before there were means for international travel and communications, economies were fundamentally local.
In just the past two to three years, developments such as the Covid-19 pandemic and the more recent Russia-Ukraine conflict, have served to highlight this vital point.
The significant disruption of global supply chains showed that even as countries expand their economic horizons, it is critical that they strengthen their internal capacities.
To address these concerns, Government – over the last couple of years – accelerated the development of innovation hubs in institutions of higher and tertiary education.
These innovation hubs, if they are to function as planned, have the potential to negate the consequences of the overlapping and intertwined global crises that we have seen of late, not least the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
There can be no doubt about the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on the global economy.
For instance, when the conflict started, the price of crude oil on the global market spiked from around US$76 per barrel (January 2022) to over $110 per barrel as of March 4, 2022.
The price of crude oil has fluctuated ever since but has largely remained elevated, leading to high fuel costs in countries such as Zimbabwe, where the price of petrol increased from around US$1,10 per litre at the start of the year, to current levels of around US$1,60 per litre.
And the attendant inflationary pressures are still being felt economy wide.
The Russia-Ukraine conflict has also disrupted the global food production system.
According to global strategy consulting firm, McKinsey, the two countries produce roughly a third of the world’s ammonia and potassium exports, essential ingredients in fertiliser.
And they are the breadbasket for much of the world, supplying about 30 percent of global exports of wheat and barley, 65 percent of sunflower seed oil, and 15 percent of corn.
Soon after the conflict began, prices for fertilisers and several food commodities rose by between 20 to 50 percent.
Countries like Zimbabwe have two options: either seek out new source markets or enhance their internal production capabilities.
This is where the innovation hubs come in.
Economic analyst, Mr Persistance Gwanyanya said the innovation hubs are critical to the extent that Zimbabwe needs to de-risk from high levels of dependency on other countries.
Even at the regional level, Zimbabwe’s economy has strong ties to neighbouring South Africa, which was shown by the South Africa unrest that took place between July 9 and 18, last year.
“We are trying to domesticate our value chains, so these innovation hubs play a vital role in equipping our people with the capacities to produce our own goods.
“And in that sense, we will be able to better handle any emerging geopolitical issues,” he said.
“We need to de-risk from having too much dependency on South Africa, for example, and also the rest of the world.”
Products developed from such innovation hubs can cover shortages resulting from international supply chain constraints.
But they can also help in employment creation, as well as boosting the local manufacturing sector.
According to Finance and Economic Development Minister, Professor Mthuli Ncube:
“The desired structural transformation from a commodity driven economy, into a diversified resilient economy is being achieved through interventions which promotes value addition of primary commodities, diversify the local product range and exports, as well as adoption of innovative technologies.”
Zimbabwe’s move to set up innovation hubs in higher and tertiary institutions began before the first big global disruption that was Covid-19.
In 2018, industry representative body, the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) announced that it had commenced engagements with tertiary and higher education institutions to enhance the contribution of research and development in the economy.
This was after a 2017 CZI Manufacturing Survey Report had shown that there was little collaboration between tertiary institutions and industry.
“Research and development plays key roles in the success of business, it contributes to the success of businesses and helps us to achieve competitive advantage.
“Indeed, it is well-known that in developed countries, a lot of the studies and research that you see implemented by industries have actually come out of Universities,” said the CZI president at the time, Mr Sifelani Jabangwe.
“This is how they stay ahead of the curve and remain as dominant economies.”
ARE INNOVATION HUBS EFFECTIVELY PLAYING THEIR ROLE?
The simple answer is yes, but more can still be achieved.
Social enterprise and lobbyists, Buy Zimbabwe, say they have seen improvements in the quantum of local goods available on the market.
“From our perspective, the innovation hubs are helping in promoting local goods. The churning out of quality local products has been impressive,” said Buy Zimbabwe general manager, Mr Alois Burutsa.
Mr Burutsa said Chinhoyi University of Technology (CUT) recently approached them looking for assistance in seeking out new markets for its new products.
“The innovation hubs are producing quality products. It is our hope that a lot of universities will increase their production output,” he said.
University of Zimbabwe (UZ) student, Arlene Andirigu, with the assistance of the college, recently developed snacks from drought-resistant, but typically under-utilised ‘future grains’ (more commonly known as small grains).
The snacks are currently in the commercialisation phase.
At the Harare Institute of Technology (HIT), former student MicCurrie Hudube developed various hospital equipment, including a ventilator that operates on oxygen.
And innovation hubs at HIT have brought to life innovations such as the Zimbabwe United Passenger Company (Zupco) tap-card system and the fuel management system, which produces a real-time fuel management system.
Both innovations are currently in use.
These are just a few of the products that innovation hubs in various higher and tertiary institutions are churning out.
Observers predict that as more students transition from the colleges into the mainstream economy, the manufacturing sector will be among the biggest winners from this initiative.
The African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation (ARIPO) goes a step further and says the innovation hubs themselves can grow into effective manufacturing hubs, with the right support.
“ARIPO considers the initiative (innovation hubs) by the Government of Zimbabwe as very positive.
“However, the Government must provide adequate support to the universities, especially in these formative stages, to enable them to commercially produce the goods and services and take them to the markets.”
