31
7 GLOBAL SPENDING ON RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (R&D)
AS A PERCENTAGE OF GDP
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) institute for statistics (UIS) paint a bleak picture of R&D spend in the world today, as illustrated
in Figure 6 below [19], which may to a degree explain why developed countries remain developed, whilst developing ones are always playing ‘catch-up’.
It notes that global spending on R&D has reached a record high of almost US$ 1.7 trillion, with about 10 countries accounting for 80% of spending [19]. As part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), countries have pledged to substantially increase public and
private R&D spending as well as the number of researchers by 2030, though will this be
achieved? It needs to be noted that the top 15 countries have strong spending by the business
sector in common as an underlying factor for success. African countries should aim to move
up of the curve and close the gap for the benefit of all.
If there is no investment in research by an industry, there is no long-term future for that
industry. Investment in research is an investment in the long-term success of an industry, and
decisions on such investments must therefore be strategic.
The situation as pointed out by Stacey et al. [14], highlighted the sorry state of mining
research and dearth of researchers in South Africa compared to its peers in Canada and
especially Australia. It further highlighted the hundreds of millions of dollars spent in the
previous decade in Australia on R&D beginning to bear significant fruits, with it seen as a
leading provider of mining expertise resulting in billions of dollars of exports from the mining technology and services sector alone.
As touched on previously, subsequent developments in South Africa have included incentives for business from Government for the investment in R&D activities, with most recently
the opening of the Mandela Mining Precinct (MMP), with significant funding and support
promised. One of the aims is to help strengthen, modernise and grow the mining industry
thus improving its contribution to GDP, which has dropped from 21% in 1970 to 7,4% in
2017. The MMP is in line with South Africa’s commitment to increasing its investment in
research and development to 1.5% from the current 0,77% of GDP [3].
Figure 5. Australian contributions to exports and growth in mining.
Percentage contributions to Australia's exports by major sectors, (1950, 1970, 1990 and 2014)
. 1950 . 1970
1990
2014
80
60
40
20
Services
Manufacturing
Agriculture
Mining
7 GLOBAL SPENDING ON RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (R&D)
AS A PERCENTAGE OF GDP
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) institute for statistics (UIS) paint a bleak picture of R&D spend in the world today, as illustrated
in Figure 6 below [19], which may to a degree explain why developed countries remain developed, whilst developing ones are always playing ‘catch-up’.
It notes that global spending on R&D has reached a record high of almost US$ 1.7 trillion, with about 10 countries accounting for 80% of spending [19]. As part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), countries have pledged to substantially increase public and
private R&D spending as well as the number of researchers by 2030, though will this be
achieved? It needs to be noted that the top 15 countries have strong spending by the business
sector in common as an underlying factor for success. African countries should aim to move
up of the curve and close the gap for the benefit of all.
If there is no investment in research by an industry, there is no long-term future for that
industry. Investment in research is an investment in the long-term success of an industry, and
decisions on such investments must therefore be strategic.
The situation as pointed out by Stacey et al. [14], highlighted the sorry state of mining
research and dearth of researchers in South Africa compared to its peers in Canada and
especially Australia. It further highlighted the hundreds of millions of dollars spent in the
previous decade in Australia on R&D beginning to bear significant fruits, with it seen as a
leading provider of mining expertise resulting in billions of dollars of exports from the mining technology and services sector alone.
As touched on previously, subsequent developments in South Africa have included incentives for business from Government for the investment in R&D activities, with most recently
the opening of the Mandela Mining Precinct (MMP), with significant funding and support
promised. One of the aims is to help strengthen, modernise and grow the mining industry
thus improving its contribution to GDP, which has dropped from 21% in 1970 to 7,4% in
2017. The MMP is in line with South Africa’s commitment to increasing its investment in
research and development to 1.5% from the current 0,77% of GDP [3].
Figure 5. Australian contributions to exports and growth in mining.
Percentage contributions to Australia's exports by major sectors, (1950, 1970, 1990 and 2014)
. 1950 . 1970
1990
2014
80
60
40
20
Services
Manufacturing
Agriculture
Mining