The national research-investment deficit
South Africa’s research intensity has remained static for more than a decade. Attaining the 1.5% target would require more than a doubling of national R&D expenditure.
Static for more than a decade
NACI’s South African Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators Report records a decline in the ratio of gross expenditure on R&D to GDP from 0.76% in 2017/18 to 0.61% in 2020/21, a level at which it has since persisted (NACI, 2025). Attaining the 1.5% target would require more than a doubling of national R&D expenditure. The fiscus alone will not be sufficient; the effort must be led substantially by the private sector, whose contribution has itself been in decline.
Economies that have increased their research intensity, such as China, have done so by coupling sustained public commitment with private investment and rigorous, evidence-based prioritisation. South Africa’s higher-education sector is among the principal performers of national R&D, yet a substantial proportion of this scholarship is not translated into forms accessible to industry or policy audiences. It is precisely this translational deficit that the Centre is constituted to address.
- 2017/180.76%Gross expenditure on R&D
- 2020/210.61%The level it has persisted at since
- Target1.5%STI Decadal Plan (2022–2032)
Sources: NACI South African STI Indicators Report 2025; CeSTII/HSRC R&D Survey 2022/23; DSI STI Decadal Plan 2022–2032; World Bank & OECD.
Innovation is spatially uneven
South Africa’s eight metropolitan municipalities, the Forum’s primary geographic focus, accommodate approximately 40% of the national population while generating in excess of 60% of gross domestic product and close to half of national employment (Statistics South Africa, 2022; South African Cities Network).
Sources: Statistics South Africa, Census 2022; South African Cities Network.
Notwithstanding their economic weight, the industrial composition and investment readiness of these metropolitan areas and their associated special economic zones remain fragmentary. The Centre will develop this comparative evidence base, turning the Forum’s national footprint, spanning Ekurhuleni, Cape Town, eThekwini, Nelson Mandela Bay and Polokwane, into a coherent analytical account of where innovation investment may be most productively directed.
- Ekurhuleni
- Cape Town
- eThekwini
- Nelson Mandela Bay
- Polokwane
- 01Department of Science and Innovation (DSI). (2022). Science, Technology and Innovation Decadal Plan 2022–2032. Pretoria: DSI.
- 02National Advisory Council on Innovation (NACI). (2025). South African Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators Report 2025. Pretoria: NACI.
- 03Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators (CeSTII), HSRC. (2024). South African R&D Survey 2022/23. Pretoria: Department of Science and Innovation.
- 04Statistics South Africa. (2022). Census 2022. Pretoria: Statistics South Africa.
Partner with the Centre
We invite universities, research institutions and business partners to collaborate as research and co-authoring partners, founding and programme funders, data partners, and members of our Research Advisory Panel.