Technology development framework for Ghana: The role of technical and research institutions

This paper, focused on developing a framework for the manufacturing of technologies for local industry in Africa using Ghana as the case sought to identify causes of technology underdevelopment in Ghana. Ghana’s industrialisation efforts have been faced with persistent failures despite the large acquisition of capital-intensive technologies and, in a broader scope, the historic narrative of Africa’s technology lag, accounting for the rudimentary state of its indigenous technologies. In this view, this study took a cautious approach in its methodology. A mix-research approach was therefore employed, comprising, ethnography, grounded theory and case study. The Findings, among other things, identified ethnic division as a major factor inhibiting knowledge exchange thereby preventing deployment and growth of indigenous technologies. In addition, Government efforts have been devoid of emphasis to meet the technology needs of the local industry, instead sought to develop high-tech, like nano-technology, to catch up with the advanced world. A framework was therefore proposed in this study for the manufacturing of production technologies for the local industry. The study concluded that the framework can only be effective with the presence of a strong technical, vocational and research background, hence, the relevance of their institutions to the development of technology in Ghana.