South Africa’s R&D funding stays stagnant at 0.61% of GDP. (Image supply: 123RF)
Even with the National Development Plan targets firmly in sight, South Africa seems unlikely to succeed in its goal of 1.5% of gross home product (GDP) expenditure on analysis and growth (R&D) by 2030.
This, as the most recent datasets on the state of the nation’s science, know-how and innovation (STI) present yet one more dip in R&D spend.
South Africa’s R&D funding declined from 0.76% to 0.61%, based on the 2025 South African Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Indicators Report.
In distinction, Asia is rising, with 46% of world R&D expenditure, and Africa lags, with a median of three.4 patent purposes per million inhabitants, and R&D expenditure under 1% of GDP in most international locations.
Delivering the report’s findings yesterday, science, know-how and innovation minister professor Blade Nzimande mentioned the most recent report presents a fancy image of a nation attaining daring milestones, whereas going through important challenges.
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He expressed concern over SA’s declining world competitiveness and falling R&D expenditure, that are areas that want pressing consideration. “Science, technology and innovation is one of the key answers for us to be able to improve our global competitiveness.
“Our gross expenditure on research and development – this should concern all of us – as a percentage of gross domestic product is falling. We were at 0.76% R&D spend as a percentage of GDP; now we’ve gone down to 0.61%.
“The investment of business in R&D remains weak. It concerns me deeply that the business sector’s contribution to R&D fell from 45.9% in 2013/14, to a low of 30% in 2020/21.”
He added that SA wants enterprise to put money into science, know-how and innovation. “No country will move forward if it does not invest in this, and business is the biggest beneficiary in advances in technology.”
Compiled by the National Advisory Council on Innovation (NACI) on behalf of the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation, the report is an annual analysis of the nationwide system of innovation within the nation over the 2022/23 interval.
The report examines investments in analysis, growth and innovation, STI human sources, innovation in manufacturing, digital competitiveness and the distribution of R&D in provinces. It additionally gives an evidence-based image of the nation’s innovation system, focusing on strengths, weaknesses and areas requiring pressing consideration.
For NACI performing CEO Anneline Morgan, the most recent stats exhibiting R&D expenditure as share of GDP is a “far cry” from the place the nation was pre-COVID-19.
“We see that government is investing more than business; the business investment in R&D is declining. In industrialised economies, it’s supposed to be the other way around – the private sector is supposed to be the main driver of investment in research, development and innovation.”
According to Nzimande, well being analysis now accounts for almost 1 / 4 of all South African R&D expenditure, demonstrating a transparent nationwide dedication to tackling illness, bettering therapies and constructing more healthy communities.
South Africa can also be breaking new floor in area, he acknowledged. “In 2023, we launched nine objects into space, and our universities, particularly the Cape Peninsula University of Technology with its nano satellite programme, are developing the skills and technology that will underpin a future-space industry. This is high-tech industrialisation in action.”
R&D spend as a share of GDP isn’t the one space the place the SA trails behind, primarily based on the STI indicators report.
There has additionally been a decline within the variety of science, know-how, engineering and arithmetic (STEM) graduates, with solely 29% of the 225 702 graduates in 2022 being in STEM fields, revealed Nzimande.
“Only 29%…reflects the situation in our schooling system. We’ve been tasked to defeat this fear of science and technology, especially among black communities in our country. Some principals, for example, tell learners not to take up pure maths and should opt for maths literacy, so that they raise the percentage of matric passes. What this is doing is depriving the country of a very important source for its STI ecosystem.”
The lagging uptake of STEM topics in school has been a thorn within the minister’s facet for a while now, with Nzimande repeatedly urging high-quality maths and science education.
He defined yesterday that driving curiosity in science and know-how should begin with main faculty youngsters.
The minister additionally famous that SA’s patent registration is declining, as per the report’s findings.
“We are importing more knowledge than we are exporting. There’s nothing wrong in importing knowledge, but there must be a balance. Our deficit mustn’t be too big, because we also need to be producing intellectual property (IP).
“For instance, we paid the rest of the world $1.6 billion in 2023 for the rights to use their IP. We received only $167 million for our own IP. There is nothing wrong in importing knowledge, but we need to be knowledge producers.”
Despite the challenges, the minister identified that South African universities have gotten extra consultant and succesful, attaining gender parity amongst tutorial employees for the primary time since 2022.
Women had been 52% of educational employees in South Africa, he acknowledged. The share of black tutorial employees additionally elevated considerably, from 27% in 2010, to 62% in 2022.
Furthermore, the proportion of everlasting employees holding PhDs elevated from 35.7% in 2010, to 52.5% in 2022.
“I’m pleased that permanent academic staff with PhDs increased. We are more than half now, and we are moving towards the national target of 75%, at least for traditional universities.
“Related to this, our research is becoming more competitive, influential and globally connected. South Africa produced 25 775 scientific articles in 2023, ranking 29 globally and second in Africa behind Egypt.”