Transcript Science with Africa Conference - Conference of African Ministers

Meeting of the Committee of Experts
1st Joint Annual Meetings
AU Conference of Ministers of Economy and Finance
ECA Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and
Economic Development
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
26 - 29 March 2008
Science with Africa Conference
3 - 7 March 2008
Aida Opoku-Mensah
Director
ICTs, Science & Technology Division (ISTD), UNECA
African Regional Agenda on S & T
“Important role of science,
technology and innovation
in enhancing economic
well-being is widely
recognized.”
UN General Assembly
Resolution A/RES/60/204
AUC
2004-2007
Plan of Actions
NEPAD
2005 S&T
Consolidated
Plan of Action
African Regional Agenda on S & T
 Theme: “Science, Technology and Scientific
Research for Development”
 Declared the year 2007 as the lunching year
of building constituencies and champions for
STI in Africa
 Supported the establishment of Pan African
Intellectual Property Organization (PAIPO)
 Reiterated its commitment to Khartoum 2006
decision urging Member States to allocate at
least 1% of GDP to R&D
 Endorsed the need for South- South and
North–South cooperation in STI
AU Summit of
Heads of State and
Government
January 2007, Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia
Rationale for Investments in Science
 Investment in S&T crucial to the
development process
 Africa is the only region yet to
exploit the potentials of S&T
ECA Publication
Participation in a Knowledge Economy
 High level of scientific skills and know-how for
participation in the knowledge economy
Global Competitiveness
Index rankings 2007-2008
(World Economic Forum)
 S & T Investments = Economic Growth+Industrial Dev
Challenges facing Africa
 The scale of challenge facing Africa in the area of
Science and Technology is huge including:
 low science and technology capacity,
 low investment in research and development,
 inadequate regulatory regimes,
 poor infrastructural base, and
 a lack of access to helpful scientific ideas.
R & D Capacity
 Africa has 83 engineers for every one million people, the
developed world has 1000 engineers per one million
people
Shares of world researchers by region, 2002
Asia
37%
Africa
1%
Oceania
1%
North America
25%
Europe
33%
Latin America
and the
Caribbean
3%
R & D funding in Africa is still lower than 1% of its GDP
Gross Domestic Expenditure (GERD) as a % of GDP
0.1
Arab States (Asia)
0.2
Arab States (Africa)
Sub-Saharan Africa
0.3
Africa
0.3
0.6
Latin America and the Caribbean
1
Developing countries
1.5
Asia
1.4
Oceania
Europe
1.7
World
1.7
2.3
Developed countries
2.7
North America
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
World Bank data shows that OECD countries spend more on research and
development annually than the total value of economic output of 61 of the world’s
poorest countries
Intellectual patent application to WIPO from developing
countries in 2007
Positive Signs
 Positive indications, which this conference should help
to deepen:
 South Africa, Uganda and Ghana amongst others have
emphasized their intention to increase investment in R&D
in their 2006-2007 budgets
Resolution of the European Parliament of 18.02.2008
5. Calls for the reinforcement of existing research infrastructure in accordance with the
indications of the African Union and the African scientific community, including the
NEPAD Office for Science and Technology, programmes of the African Union and
R&D projects, in particular in specific sectors such as food, health and energy;
6. Urges Member States to promote S&T cooperation with Africa that will rapidly secure
genuine and comprehensive development of the knowledge and technologies in the
African countries themselves;
7. Notes that scientific progress contributes to the economic and social development
envisaged in the Millennium Development Goals; calls in particular on the European
Union to place climate change at the forefront of its S&T cooperation with Africa, tapping
primarily into the huge renewable energy sources available in Africa, with particular
reference to solar energy;
Resolution of the European Parliament of 18.02.2008
8.
Urges Member States to promote knowledge and technology transfer between
the EU and Africa;
9.
Calls on the European Union and the Member States to ensure greater
consistency between the EU's international S&T policy and the basic needs
of African countries, thus leading to the development of a new global
framework for science and diplomacy with Africa;
10. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the
Commission, the Member State parliaments and the United Nations.
Science With Africa: Objectives
 Increased synergies between European, USA and other global
science based organisations and those of Africa, to promote NorthSouth cooperation, to foster technology transfer and to improve
existing R&D activities, centers of excellence and partnerships;
 Improved linkages between international scientific research
programmes and business enterprise to expedite economic growth
in Africa
 Provide a framework for using Science and Technology options to
support economic progress in Africa
Science With Africa: Participation
The conference brought together over 600 participants representing:
 African member States
 Asian, European and North American countries
 International and regional organisations
 Business communities
 Civil society organisations
 Development partners
Science With Africa: Participation

High-Level delegates:
 6 Ministers from Algeria, Congo, Ethiopia, Guinea, Swaziland, and Tanzania
 2 Speakers of Parliament (Rwanda and Togo)
 13 Members of Parliament (Burkina Faso, Ghana (2), Namibia, Nigeria (3), Niger,
Rwanda (2), Togo, and Tunisia (2)
 Deputy Prime Minister of Slovakia

Representation of scientists, CSOs, private sector from 44 African
countries: Algéria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi,
Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Congo, Comoro, Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, DRC,
Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia,
Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia,
Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan,
Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe
Science With Africa: Participation
Over 60 Regional, International Organisations and UN Institutions participated,
including:
AUC, AfDB, African Academy of Sciences, African Center of Meteorological Applications
for Development (ACMAD), African Clinical Research Organization (ACRO), ARIPO,
African Society of Scientific Research and Technology, Association of
Commonwealth Universities, Bellanet Africa, Brainstore, British Council, COMESA,
EC, European Parliament, European Science Foundation, FAO, Forum for Agricultural
Research in Africa (FARA), GKP, Global Water Partnership, GTZ, Imperial College,
International Council for Science (ICSU), IFPRI, IITA, ILRI, International Research
Institute for Climate and Society, IUCEA, Japan Science and Technology Agency,
Korean Science and Technology Policy Institute, Médicins du Monde, Nile Basin
Initiative, Nokia, Nokia Siemens Networks, OSSREA, Pan-African Institute for
Technology and Development (PAITD), Pasteur Institute, Schoolnet Africa, SDC, Third
World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), UNDP, UNEP, UNESCO, UNIDO, United Nations
Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), United Nations Human Rights Office,
WFP, and WHO.
Science With Africa: Conference Partners
 AUC
 Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)
 Canadian e-Policy Resource Centre (CePRC)
Knowledge partners:
 UNESCO, Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP), and
BrainStore
Conference sponsors:
 Ethiopian Airlines, Microsoft, and Nokia Siemens
Networks
Key Issues Discussed
The conference featured 10 opening and keynote speeches, 24 plenary speeches and
presentations in 5 plenary sessions and 53 full and short paper presentations in 9
breakout sessions focusing on:

STI policy

Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), patents and technology transfer

High Level Panel on the Future of STI in Africa

International programmes to support STI

Energy, water, transport and infrastructure

ICTs and innovation

Agriculture, health and life sciences

Science with Africa marketplace

Developing guideline for health research in Africa

Cross cutting issues: STI capacity building and climate change in Africa
Ideas Factory
 ECA, Brainstore and GKP with the support of the Swiss
Development
Cooperation
(SDC)
facilitated
a
knowledge sharing process during the conference
 The knowledge sharing process led by Brainstore, was
in a form of an Ideas Factory where the conference
participants developed ideas on how African R&D can
be strengthened and participation of African scientists
in international research projects can be notably
increased
Ideas Factory: 20 Selected Ideas
Ideas Factory: 20 Selected Ideas
Ideas Factory: 20 Selected Ideas
Ideas Factory: 20 Selected Ideas
SWA Outcomes & Recommended Actions
Specific recommendations made on:

Science Technology and Innovation (STI) policies in Africa

Funds for STI Policy implementation: The case of the EC

Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), patents and technology transfer

International programmes to support STI in Africa

R&D Idea factory

Energy, water, transport and infrastructure

ICTs and innovation

Agriculture, health and life sciences

Developing guidelines for health research in Africa

STI capacity building
Way Forward
 The Conference overall recommended that ECA, in
collaboration with the AUC and UNESCO, and under the
framework of the AU/NEPAD S&T Consolidated Plan of
Action, will constitute a Working Group to define the
programme
priorities
for
implementation
of
recommendations and the ideas of this conference
 Implementation will be at the regional, sub-regional and
country levels, within the established mandate of each
institution
Thank you !
http://www.uneca.org/sciencewithafrica