South Africa recorded a 4.6% increase in the output of medium and high technology manufacturing in 2019 compared to the previous year, Freight News sister publication, Engineer IT, has reported.
The data, found in the 2021 South African Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Indicators Report, indicate that although the increase is a step in the right direction, huge challenges still lay ahead.
“Commissioned by the National Advisory Council on Innovation (Naci), the 2021 STI Indicators Report was conducted within the context of a rampant Covid-19 pandemic, which has deepened socio-economic development crises and prompted STI policy renewal worldwide,” the report read.
Quoted in the report, Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Buti Manamela, said that in the South African context, the challenges of inequality, unemployment, poverty and ecological degradation now required even more urgent attention.
It also shows that while a good foundation has been established in terms of research and development (R&D), other African countries, such as Egypt, are fast catching up with South Africa.
To read the full article click here:
https://www.engineerit.co.za/article/sas-tech-manufacturing-output-increases-slightly
