Engineering: issues, challenges and opportunities for development ...

ENGINEERING CAPACITY: EDUCATION, TRAINING AND MOBILITYfunded by the European Union and Canadian InternationalDevelopment Agency. This concept has since been effectivelydisseminated throughout the country, leading to a resurgenceof a strong informal industry. Not only was the ITTUconcept hailed in Ghana but also beyond its borders, attractingmany visitors from all over the world; African countries,realizing the crucial role of science and technology to economicdevelopment of the continent, worked on how bestto advance this model.The Suame ITTU was established within Suame Magazine,Ghana’s largest informal industrial area (about 10 km fromthe KNUST Campus), which currently brings together anestimated 87,000 artisans engaged in auto-repair work, metalmachining, sheet metal fabrication, foundry work, blacksmithing,woodworking and so on. The aim was for the Suame ITTUto establish an effective presence among the artisans wherebynew technologies can be perfected and transferred to thosewho needed them most. The ultimate goal was to promote asteady rise in the level of technology and to increase employmentopportunities within the surrounding workshops. As thetechnology is transferred to the surrounding workshops, andthe market demand is met, the ITTU turns to relevant newproducts developed at the university or elsewhere.Challenges© UNESCO/Fernadez Road construction, Ghana,1986.The active role played by TCC in shaping the informal industrialrevolution of the country was faced with a myriad of challengesin the mid-1990s due to unprecedented governmentpolicy. In spite of the proliferation of the ITTU concept, theoriginal idea of maintaining the TCC and its Suame ITTU at thecentre of the network was not pursued. The establishment ofGRATIS directly under the Ministry of Industries, Science andTechnology in 1987 severed the academia-industry linkage,and GRATIS soon become autonomous and in competitionwith TCC. Not only did this new arrangement take away mostof the national, bilateral and international funding of TCC, butalso some of its valued human capital.This dire situation has persisted to date with the gradualdecline in the financial capacity of TCC, resulting in run-downinfrastructure, dampened moral and isolation by universityadministration. The reduction in funding has not only limitedTCC’s role in the enterprise development agenda of Ghanabut has also reduced its influence in advising government onscience and technology for innovation and socio- economicdevelopment. Central government’s reduced funding for universitiesand research institutions has also forced the TCC tosever its administrative and financial autonomy, as fundingfor university research was drastically reduced to the point ofnon-existence.The futureWith the advent of globalization, productive enterprises thathad evolved through TCC’s intervention collapsed in the faceof stiff competition. The TCC had recognized the seriousness ofthis new development and accepted the need for a continuousimprovement of the technologies on which productive enterprisesare based as its next big challenge in its drive towardsthe establishment of a vibrant grassroots industrial base.The Technology Consultancy Centre is proposing a new sustainableindustrial development concept for Ghana, whichwill emphasize the need to methodically nurture a few keysmall- to medium-scale enterprises in areas where the countrypossesses comparative advantages. The expectation is that,through relevant parallel complementary interventions andadequate government support, the selected enterprises can beturned into valuable national assets that will set in motion thedevelopment of other economic activities.The proposed vehicle for achieving this objective is theTechnology Focal Point/Technology Park that the TCC hasplanned. It is believed that a policy of investing in a fewdeserving engineering entrepreneurs will ultimately lead tothe attainment of the critical mass that will propel the Ghana’sindustrial take-off.357