The director-general of the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation, Mlungisi Cele, has warned that promising South African scientific research is being held back by a persistent funding gap that prevents projects from being commercialised.
Gap between discovery and market
Speaking on the sidelines of the 19th Pujiang Innovation Forum in Shanghai on 20 September 2026, Cele said many research projects progress through early development but then stall when they need larger, follow-on investment to reach the market. He described this difficult transition as the “valley of death”.
“The challenge in South Africa is that many projects are unable to progress. Some may reach the early stages of financing, but they cannot secure the funding required to move further,” the director-general said.
Cele told delegates that overcoming the problem will require a substantial infusion of resources. He said the solution must do more than provide seed capital: it should enable innovators to carry out the technical, regulatory and commercial work needed to attract private investment and scale viable products.
Why this matters for the economy
Technology transfer and commercialisation are essential steps if public-sector and university research is to generate jobs, export opportunities and new businesses. Without funding for proof-of-concept, prototype development, certification and market testing, inventions often remain in laboratories and never reach customers.
At the Pujiang forum, Cele framed the issue as a national economic priority, saying that addressing the funding shortfall would allow technologies developed in South Africa to make a stronger contribution to growth and development. He warned that current financing structures leave many projects stranded after initial rounds of support.
Policy implications and next steps
- Greater public investment targeted at late-stage development to bridge the gap between laboratory innovation and market readiness.
- Mechanisms to attract private capital into higher-risk stages of commercialisation through blended finance and incentives.
- Stronger links between researchers, industry partners and investors to align research outputs with market needs.
The director-general called for what he called a “massive injection of funding” to help promising projects progress through the stages required to reach the market. His remarks add to a growing chorus of government, university and industry voices that have pointed to financing as a bottleneck in South Africa’s innovation system.
| Problem | Suggested response |
|---|---|
| Late-stage financing shortfall (the “valley of death”) | Large-scale, targeted funding and blended finance to de-risk investments |
Cele’s comments came as South Africa participated in international discussions at the Pujiang Innovation Forum in Shanghai, a venue where governments and companies exchange models for moving innovation into commerce. The director-general did not provide figures for the additional funding he believes is necessary, but he characterised the need as urgent and substantial.
For South Africans who follow technology and innovation, the debate is familiar: public investment and private capital must be structured so that the outputs of research labs can be translated into products, services and companies that contribute to the country’s economy. Without that bridging finance, the commercial potential of local research will remain underutilised.
This development will be an item to watch for policymakers, university technology-transfer offices and entrepreneurs seeking routes from prototypes to paying customers. Any plan to close the gap will need clear targets, accountable delivery mechanisms and coordination across government, science councils, universities and the private sector.
