Navigating the Geopolitics of Innovation: Policy and Strategy Imperatives for the 21st Century Africa

As societies evolve across innovation-enabled industrialisation milestones, the degree of state involvement in markets changes in response to geopolitical pressures. The historical journeys of two innovation epicentres, Great Britain and the United States, and one innovation catch-up model, China, demonstrate the anchoring and propelling role of grand strategy in the course of innovation. When translated to anticipatory, preemptive, proactive and responsive domestic and foreign policies, grand strategies that are geared towards a spectrum of outcomes, ranging from development to competitiveness to power, for respective regions and countries, can further facilitate a successful navigation of geopolitical constraints for firms which are the drivers of innovation.