Initiatives and strategies for development of nanotechnology in nations: a lesson for Africa and other least developed countries

Abstract

It is a known fact that the progress and development of different nations of the world is strongly connected with the type of materials under their use. This paper highlighted the development of nanotechnology in some selected countries of the world through a careful review of their road maps by way of public and private initiatives, funding/investment profile, human resources development, industrial potentials, and focus in order to draw inferences. The peculiar challenges and opportunities for some African nations and other least developed countries (LDC) were drawn for their economic and technological developments. This investigation was simply based on open access literatures. The review showed that although nanotechnology is new globally, most countries of the world have had growing public and private investments aimed at bringing about new materials and systems that can impact positively on their economy and ensure their global competitiveness and sustainability. The global scenario suggests the crucial role of cooperation in a multidisciplinary collaboration/partnership between government ministries, agencies, institutions, and private sector/donor agencies in order to pool enough resource capital required for activities in nanotechnology.

A Review of Petroleum Waste Management and Environmental Quality Status of Niger Delta

“…The new technology, use of nanomaterial presents an interesting alternative to the existing remediation technologies and their superior performance is due to increased surface area for reaction, higher reactivity and possibility of in-situ treatment. However, nanotechnology is still applied in Nigeria, but largely at the demonstration of interest stage while smaller and less rich countries like Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are seriously pursuing research in nanotechnology [62,63]. Hence more research work needs to be carried out to ascertain its suitability in managing petroleum waste in the Niger Delta.…”

Green Nanotechnology in Nigeria: The Research Landscape, Challenges and Prospects

“…Policy makers in Nigeria, non-governmental organizations and the general public were therefore called upon to make significant contributions to nanotechnology development in the country. Also, Ezema et al (2014) examined the evolution of nanotechnology in some countries that included USA, China, Japan, Germany, UK, and Russia by reviewing their road maps in nanotechnology. Factors such as funding, human resource development, public and private initiatives, industrial capabilities, and focus were considered with the view of drawing inferences that could be an example to Africa and other developing nations in their journey to benefit from advances in nanotechnology.…”

Nano-Tehnološke Aktivnosti: Diferentnost Pozicije Između Manje I Najmanje Aktivnih Zemalja U Kvantitetu I Kvalitetu

“…Međutim, u posmatranom periodu u ovom radu premašuje Argentinu u 2013. godini, nastavljajući sa gradnjom diferentne prednosti. Prema [8], Južna Afrika se kontinualno povoljno pozicionira, jer strateški ulaže u razvoj ljudskih resursa -obrazovanje mladih istraživača, razvoj istraživačkih i inovacionih centara, razvojnih platformi i saradnju sa Brazilom i Indijom. Tokom posmatranog perioda, Južna Afrika skromnije razvija diferentnost, ali je ona zapažena.…”

“…Uvidom u relevantnu literaturu steklo se saznanje da je manje empirijskih studija u kojima su se istraživači iz više aktivnih zemalja u nano-tehnologiji bavili manje ili najmanje aktivnim zemljama u nano-tehnologiji. Istraživanjima i analizom pozicija ovih zemalja su se uglavnom bavili domaći istraživači [6], [7], [8], ili su one našle mesto u studijama koje daju prikaz stanja u glabalnoj nano-nauci i nano-tehnologiji kao što su [2], [3].…”