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Science and technology (S&T) are major challenges for economic development and social progress. Inscribed in the SDGs of 2015 for the 2030 Agenda, their legitimacy is not recent in the issue of developing countries or countries in transition. However, if their merits were linked to the appropriation and dissemination of technology stricto sensu, the current view of them is broader and linked to the construction of competencies and capacities. This article proposes to revisit the state of the art of science and technology as interrelated with economic development, before exposing the important but thwarted link in current theories of economic development.
The number of people without a bank account remains a real issue for financial inclusion in developing countries. FinTech development in the WAEMU appears to be a solution, particularly in the context of mobile money services. The purpose of this paper is to analyze adequacy issues between FinTech and financial inclusion in the eight WAEMU countries using a fixed-effects panel data model. The results show that financial inclusion is strongly correlated with bank interests, and that the demand for opening a bank account increases when the conditions of access are less onerous. At the same time, banks offer better terms for opening bank accounts when their margins are high. Another important finding is that access to mobile telephony and the Internet does not always guarantee access to FinTechs, a prerequisite for greater financial inclusion.
This article examines how a Sectorial System of Innovation (SSI) can be used to understand and organize public policy choices in the cocoa sector in Cameroon. This central production in the country’s agricultural economy has been, since 2002, the subject of several “recovery plans” aiming to significantly increase cocoa yields, and thus the production of cocoa, by sharing scientific and technical knowledge. Based on open interviews and quantitative data collected from key actors, this article characterizes the organizational mode and logic of the “cocoa innovation system”. The analysis of the structuring of this SSI reveals problems. It identifies potential levers for an innovation trajectory towards a sustainable and more inclusive increase in cocoa production.
The objective of this paper is to identify factors that inhibit government efforts that contribute to the development of scientific entrepreneurship in Cameroon. The mobilization of documentary sources and the statistical data obtained from the National Institute for Statistics (INS) and certain ministries have made it possible to conclude that the objective of developing scientific entrepreneurship in Cameroon is inhibited by a combination of a difficult social, institutional, structural and economic environment. To reduce these obstacles, it is firstly suggested that the government update the existing Research Master Plan with the aim of identifying and circumscribing the priority areas of research for the development of the country, secondly to develop strategies aimed at popularizing the culture of science, technology and innovation among the population; thirdly, to set up an intermediation structure between research and the business world to promote the industrial and commercial promotion of scientific and technological results; and finally to increase the capacity of training and research institutions in educational and reception infrastructures.
Innovation policies are based on Science and Technology, but also on indirect policies to improve the local socio-economic context, in the context of Least Developed Countries (LDCs). Our article proposes to promote industrial and innovation policies within the framework of regional integration in Senegal. The question raised is whether the context of regionalization of Senegal within the framework of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is favorable to this, as opposed to the protectionist policies marked by Industrialization by Import Substitution (ISI) and practiced for years. In a country where Science and Technology are mainly focused on agricultural research, our proposal, mobilizing secondary data, highlights the various challenges of the Senegalese industrial sector in a context of science and technology policies and growing regionalization.
This article examines the impact of the digitalization of higher education on social inequalities during the health crisis (COVID-19). After a reminder on the expansion of distance education as well as the evaluation of the effectiveness of this new learning paradigm, we go into more depth on the link between distance education and social inequality. Based on an exploratory qualitative study of thirty Tunisian university teachers, the results show that resistance to change and reluctance, the lack of a suitable place to work and the slowness of Internet connection constitute the main obstacles to the adoption of this new way of learning. In addition, our study shows that 60% of teachers consider that distance education is a cruel accelerator of social inequalities for both teachers and students.
Food security and safety is facing huge societal changes that were triggered immediately after World War II, and whose effects are mutually reinforcing today. These changes threaten a fragile equilibrium between, on the one hand, the world resources and our ability to mobilise them, and on the other hand, human requirements. Given our current knowledge, the population’s awareness of the stakes and the implementation of current promising technologies are likely to delay a rupture between food supply and demand. However, a significant capitalisation of new discoveries appears to be capital in order to guarantee the next generations’ food security.
This paper analyzes the impact of the adoption of new rice technologies on the technical efficiency of farmers in Senegal. By disaggregating the different possibilities or treatment into three levels using multiple treatment, the results show that, on the one hand, the first treatment level T1 (fertilizer) has no impact on the technical efficiency of the rice farmers and, on the other hand, the second treatment level T2 (fertilizer and improved seed) and the third treatment level T3 (fertilizer, improved seed and motorized equipment) impact on the technical efficiency of rice farmers by 9.7% and 12.1%, respectively.
The concept of “recapturing innovations” explains why incumbents allow challengers to use radical
innovations to potentially disrupt the market. Challengers are small and nimble operators who seek high powered incentives to show that their innovations are viable, and the realizations of these objectives come from selling to an incumbent. Incumbents can then recapture their lost markets and use their efficient operating systems and regulatory knowledge to scale up the recaptured innovations, thus sustaining their competitive advantage. This concept is illustrated through a case study on a neobank, which is an innovation in the financial landscape, usually offering a limited range of products through mobile telephones. This case study shows that the challengers used a new organizational form, new technology and distribution channels in order to satisfy a large niche of unserved or underserved clients. This case is similar to the payment banks in India which have not fared well, perhaps because of too much regulatory interference. Therefore, regulatory agencies in developing countries should have appropriate regulations in order to reduce the institutional barriers hindering the success of social enterprises. However, they should not block initiatives in their product pricing, promoting and distributing policies.
