The COVID-19 pandemic demands a significant shift in how we live, work and socialize. It has therefore made it necessary for society to prioritize innovation to meet immediate challenges caused by the pandemic. The ensuing response is also producing inspiring innovative solutions proving that necessity is indeed the mother of invention. COVID-19 has been the catalyst for increased use of digital technologies, from telemedicine to remote learning and working.
With COVID-19, there are already early signs of a shift in how consumers and businesses behave. If anything, this pandemic highlights the need to ensure that we embrace innovation and intentionally foster “out-of-the-box” thinking. COVID-19 has irrevocably changed the way businesses will operate in the near future. Firms that choose to capitalize on these underlying changes will succeed and the ones that don’t will most likely not.
Most African countries do not have integrated policies that support innovation and are characterized for the most part by incomplete national innovation systems or missing links. As a result, the sectoral innovation systems play a strong role in the interconnectedness of actors and networks. Agents within the sector are better positioned to leverage their extensive network and relationship to deepen the support for innovation and access to knowledge and expertise to create unprecedented value.
Over June and August 2020, we dove deep into sectors that have been significantly affected by the impact COVID-19 has had on the continent. We utilized a 5-step sectoral approach analysis. This approach provided a mechanism to identify the challenges associated with the pandemic, review interventions and innovations in the select countries, and measure how these interventions were supported due to the strength of the sectoral innovation systems in each of the countries.
The sectors that have been heavily affected (identified from secondary research) are;
- Health we
- Education
- Transport
- E-commerce
- Internet connectivity
- Food value chain
- Travel and Tourism
Our main goal was to assess the impact that COVID-19 has had on current innovation systems, using innovation responses as a proxy. We sought to draw insights from secondary research, social media reviews, and citizen’s feedback.
The analysis covered Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, and South Africa. Insights from the analysis will be shared in our newsletter on a weekly basis, subscribe to find out more on the innovative responses in other sectors here.
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