Science and Technological Capability Building in Global South: Comparative Study of India and South Africa

Economic success of a nation is highly related to Scientific and Technological (S&T) capability building. Therefore, both industrially developed and developing nations follow explicit strategies to increase their technological competency. However, Technological Capability (TC) building cannot be completed in isolation. It is a long-term process and requires a country to pass through different phases of learning, infrastructure development, human resources management and institutions building. This chapter analyses Indian and South African S&T capability through the major input (R&D expenditure, manpower) and output indicators (High Technology Export, Technology balance of payment, scholarly publications, patents and so on). It is observed that India is ahead of South Africa in some respect but in some areas South Africa’s performance is quite good. The study concludes with the policy recommendations from the developing countries’ particularly the South African perspective.