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Purpose: This paper discusses the outcomes of an exploratory study into the innovations, adaptations, and best practices that the tourism and hospitality sector in Africa should implement in dealing with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic-induced disruptions. Design/methodology/approach: This paper was based on data collected through qualitative approaches by reviewing published academic articles and unpublished documents, including websites, media reports and global public health entities such as the World Health Organization (WHO). Because of the lack of reliable data in some cases, this study is inductive in nature. Findings: The main finding of this research suggests that Africa which is seemingly the least affected in infection and casualty rates has conversely borne the brunt of the negative responses from the global community in travel restrictions and mobility curtailment. Overwhelming trends suggest the domestic tourism market does not have the spending capacity of international visitors who arrive with foreign currency, inevitably main-stream in the form of USD, EURO and GBP, with their spending power estimated at between 1:18 and 1:22. The fragmented, cascaded and sometimes disorganised approach in dealing with policy adoptions and implementation in managing developments around the pandemic further inhibits a compelling approach to continent-wide tourism and hospitality revival. Originality/value: This paper highlights trends, innovations, and adaptations to COVID-19-related revival strategies for Africa and contributes to academic debates on the topic which, in the Global South context is currently under-researched. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates how emerging technology has impacted the ways of working and functioning of various industries in Africa. The research was conducted at a time when digital transformation may have been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has resulted in a greater rate of adoption of emerging technology (social media, mobility, analytics, cloud computing and the internet of things [SMACT]. This qualitative research focuses on how African youth and entrepreneurs have developed their businesses and communities in the digital economy by exploiting emerging technology and skills. For Africans to overcome the market challenges caused by digital transformation, they need to acquire and leverage digital business skills tailored to their unique challenges. This paper will be of interest to other researchers and industries on the African continent that are competing for global market share and the transformative development of their communities. Disasters and pandemics have become accelerators of the adoption of digital technology to sustain industries around the globe. The COVID-19 global pandemic (2020) has affected up to 49 countries, making it the largest health, social, and economic threat that the world has faced in the 21st century. The COVID-19 crisis has pushed both planned and unplanned innovation. This study explores the development of this social and cultural innovation in various consumer sectors in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We begin our reflection in this paper with the cursory observation that most of the major variants of the SARS CoV-2 virus were deciphered in the Global South, namely, alpha (China), beta and omicron (South Africa). This underappreciated fact demonstrates that independent capabilities in frontier sciences in the South contributed fundamentally to global efforts to minimise the human cost of the pandemic. However, while the more efficient vaccines primarily emerged from research and development (R&D)-based capabilities in the Global North, some novel vaccines, secondary innovation in the form of manufacturing and the innovative deployment of preventive measures were also salient in the Global South. Thus, rather than starting with the 'deficit model of development' that is implicit in several policy discourses on the Global South, we argue that innovation concepts should instead be anchored in the rich civilisational heritage of such societies themselves. Theoretical notions such as secondary innovation, which emerged from Chinese efforts at economic catch-up, endogenous development, which seeks to ground Africa's advancement in its own historical antecedents, and grassroots innovation from the Indian subcontinent, guide our South–South dialogical exchange in this article. Consequently, we propose a contextually rooted conceptual framework on endogenous innovation that could better inform socially transformative efforts and highlight some implications for medicinal innovation and astronomy beyond COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses empirical challenges and opportunities for African countries in their quest to have sustainable mechanisms for funding research and innovation. Like elsewhere in different parts of the world, African countries have been exploring different approaches, institutional reforms, models and mechanisms towards more efficient and effective funding and financing of research and innovation to enhance their individual and collective economic development aspirations. This paper derives from a 2018 to 2019 study which used a combination of primary and secondary data sources to inform current debates and reviews on the re- organization of research and innovation funding in Africa. Attempts to copy experiences of high income economies in harnessing and deploying funding mechanisms into national research and innovation systems are not appropriate if not accompanied by adaptation to systemic and contextual aspects in receiving countries and sectors. This paper presents and analyses recent empirical evidence from 15 African countries to argue that successful adaptations are not just a matter of technological and innovation capabilities, timely and adequate resourcing, but are a function of decision-making and governance capabilities, which in turn arise from deliberate and interactive learning across the entire research and innovation system. This work contributes to some of the themes covered in this journal recently on the broad issue of resources for innovation, including financial and relational resources. • Besides the current COVID-19 pandemic, African countries have many economic development challenges and opportunities to deal with. • New knowledge from research and innovation seen as key drivers in these, but these drivers need resources. • Different ways of funding research and innovation have been deployed, but some shortcomings remain, with respect to, inter alia, consistency of the funding, sufficiency of the funding and relevance of the funding. • This paper presents and analyses recent empirical evidence from 15 African SGCI countries to argue that successful adaptations are not just a matter of timely and adequate resourcing, or technological and innovation capabilities. • Decision-making and governance capabilities, which arise from deliberate and interactive learning across entire research and innovation systems, are also key. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]