| The
Development of Science and International Conference
Objective Background 
The present Conference was organized to analyse the current situation of science and technology (S&T) in the region and to develop proposals for a programme of cooperation and development. Forty-six scientists, educators, and government representatives from nine African nations and several industrial countries participated in this Conference. Dr L. Mtshali, Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology for South Africa gave the opening address. Prof. G. O. P. Obasi, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization, gave the keynote address: ‘The Development of Geosciences in Africa’. This White Paper presents a program of action consisting of six proposed areas for cooperative effort. It is the product of several activities that transpired during and after the workshop, including brainstorming and synthesizing ideas raised at the meeting, draft report writing, and follow-up work by a committee, the African Program for Science and Technology Steering Committee (APSaTSCo), that was formed to finalize the report. This committee consisted of 25 participants who stayed on after the presentations at the workshop. The committee took upon itself to (1) draft this document, based on the issues and ideas raised at the workshop and (2) make personal commitments for follow-up actions. This document serves as the initial effort to summarize the analysis conducted by the meeting participants. Subsequent steps have already been initiated. Among other actions, it is intended that this report will be submitted to the attention of governmental and international agencies, associated major development banks, and private sector consortia, such as trade associations, in order to increase awareness of their roles and of opportunities for action and cooperation to advance S&T in African countries. The main topics of the conference were:
The following six areas for cooperation in the development of S&T are summarized in this report:
Science and Technology Research and Development Partnerships in Africa Introduction The widening economic gaps between nations is linked more and more to corresponding gaps in science and technology (S&T). To be effective, S&T needs to maintain relevance and have a sufficient resource base. In order to maintain relevance and garner support from influential sectors, S&T research and development (R&D) agendas need to be set locally. By maintaining relevance and gaining support, R&D should contribute more effectively to economic development and influence emerging national policies. A fundamental need for development of S&T and R&D is to have partnerships for exchange of people, ideas, and support facilities. The university and research institutes should enhance their relevance to society by developing partnerships with the local community, industry, and national research facilities. The universities should be open to meet the needs of the local industries and should also update their research programs to meet the practical needs of society. Local R&D programs should be as selective as possible in order to avoid mis-management of limited local funding. However, these linkages should not be limited nationally, but should extend to include regional and international elements. These actions will enhance the standard of educational expertise both for instruction and for the students. R&D should be coupled with the educational goals of the universities to promote and strengthen national economies. Stronger national economies will contribute, through partnerships and linkages, to an equally stronger regional economy. Objective
Strategies It is essential that partnerships and linkages be established between various sectors within each nation and between African nations. These interactions involve, among others, exchange programs, cooperation between industry and educational institutions, linkages in research facilities, and identification of other mechanisms and sources of assistance and support. These interactions should be promoted at all levels: international, national and regional. Strategic elements are listed below under each of the categories identified as being important ingredients to the partnerships. Exchange needs to occur in a variety of ways and at different levels (local, national, and international). The main objective of these exchange programs should be the promotion of the skills of African scientists by involving them in up-to-date scientific investigations that have direct consequences on the social well-being of their own countries. These exchange programs should allow African scientists to emerge from scientific isolation. One should establish incentives for scientists to avoid brain-drain from already exhausted African universities and research institutes, such as reliable funding and infrastructure for research, adequate salaries, and open exchange of ideas and data. Legal mechanisms may be developed and implemented as the last resort to stem brain-drain. The Exchange Programs may include the following:
The second important category is that of linkages between industry and universities. These linkages should be in the form of partnerships in which mutual support for specific programs can be identified and implemented. For instance, some of the R&D activities of local industries could be hosted at universities or research institutes and financed mostly by these industries. This would certainly ease the financial burden of the universities and research institutes occasioned by the heavy funding needed to equip some of their research laboratories. Examples of such partnerships include the following:
These partnership components will create a positive environment that encourages researchers to form interest groups to aid in interaction and interpretation of research in the context of enhancing education and production. A key component of this environment is the creation of multiple industrial chairs or joint appointments. Other issues need to be addressed in this context and include the promotion of local industry and economy, provision of technical assistance to existing small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and promotion of the creation of new SMEs. The establishment of links between university and national/international facilities is envisioned to constitute viable partnerships. Partnerships with these facilities could address local and regional issues and lead to economic gains. Examples of existing partnerships are the European Union Euro-Mediterranean programs, where research groups from both sides of the sea collaborate in projects related to agriculture, environment, and health. Examples of potential partnerships are those which focus on the African Great Lakes, the Rift Valley, regional climate, and Southern Skies. Developing these links requires identification and promotion of existing and emerging centers of excellence, whose missions involve fostering stronger R&D partnerships. Mechanisms and sources of support must be identified for the expressed purpose of bringing new financing to partnerships that is not normally available. Establishing these partnerships will spark yet additional funding that will be made available to academic, technical, and local/national communities. For instance, international funding/banking organizations like the World Bank, the Islamic Bank of Jeddah, and the African Development Bank, could make some form of funding available to fulfill these objectives. The African governments should also make a solid commitment to reinforce and revitalize already existing R&D agencies, as well as allocate funds in support of these programs. The local African private sector should also commit to supporting these programs of African scientific and technological development. These contributions would certainly constitute a real, positive signal to the international agencies and industrial countries that R&D is an urgent priority for Africa. The sustained prosperity of a nation depends upon the level and quality of its education system. Education empowers individuals and maximizes national intellectual resources in order to sustain social and economic progress for the benefit of all. Access to free compulsory education is a right, and nations must address the appropriate length of the educational experience to meet national needs for the development of their intellectual capacity, especially in S&T.
Toward this end, African nations:
There are several strategies identified for each of the above-mentioned objectives. These strategies are discussed briefly under each objective.
National education policies should establish strong
links between stakeholders in education to ensure curriculum development across the full
educational process, also taking into account the need for coordination between each stage
of a student’s development. Scientists and technologists from academia and industry
should be included in designing the curriculum. The following actions are recommended:
In recognition of the large gap between the educational systems in Africa as a whole and those of the industrialized world, and noting the lack of local resources, it is essential that international agencies and the private sector provide assistance. Support from international agencies is required for sponsorship of programs such as the following:
The level of awareness of the value of S&T must be
raised among both the general population and those with influence on educational policies.
There are a number of examples of quality science being undertaken in Africa which may be
used for the promotion of the discipline. The South African Large Telescope is a typical
multinational achievement that could be used for this purpose of promoting and increasing
awareness. African nations should explore the opportunity for developing high profile promotional material for dissemination across the available media services. To stimulate an early awareness of S&T among young people, consideration should be given to the development of low-cost, early-learning materials based upon science and relevant to Africa. Such a project would help the development of skills among the young in Africa. Coordination should be provided via an international agency (e.g., UNESCO, UNICEF etc.) and based upon the following principles:
Africa’s program to enhance education in S&T should recognize the various stakeholders, their interrelationships, and their changing roles in the process of providing quality education. Each country, nationally and with its neighbors, should build strong linkages among stakeholders. A systematic approach should be developed to assess the needs of, the problems and the possible solutions for, each entire educational system. Recognizing the limits of local resources and the need to share some of them, there is also a necessity to explore national and international resources/assistance to realize these educational objectives. It is also necessary to increase the awareness level as to the value and contributions of S&T not only among the general population, but also among those who can influence or are responsible for developing national educational policies. Policy
From the proposals presented to the workshop, a consensus emerged that the governments of the continent urgently need to undertake a new and strong policy towards the development of S&T. Such a policy should include both national and regional actions as a basis for further actions at the international level. It is recognized that S&T development is a necessary condition for the peaceful social development of the continent, the necessity of which is obvious, and the sustainability of which requires that adequate human and financial resources be available in the S&T sector.
The development of S&T policy will require the involvement of scientists with access to policy makers. This liaison may be accomplished through professional scientific societies and should promote to the policy makers adequate public awareness programs on the utility of S&T for development. A useful element of such a campaign would be the study of cases showing that payoffs of S&T investment are significant and would allow African economies to make the transition from tertiary to secondary economies. It would be important to show that the primary sector would also receive a great advantage from S&T development. The GDP fraction invested in S&T should be increased. An urgent need is to soon reach the threshold recommended by the South Commission and UNESCO of 1% of GDP, from the current much lower values, with the perspective of a further increase to 3% by the end of the next decade. The latter level may appear to be too high, since it is analogous to that of the most advanced countries, but, given the lower income of the continent, its actual total value would represent the minimum needed to face the most urgent necessities. Governments should explore strategies for effective private sector contributions to this investment. A likely consequence of governmental decisions for increased investment in S&T is that international agencies and development banks will realize the necessity of a change in policy for their loans and programs of technical assistance, as well as a similar recognition in bilateral agreements with donors from the developed world. All such outside loans, programs and agreements should include S&T, with a sufficient percentage of the funds earmarked for it. In order to make such an act of conviction possible, the planning and advisory people in government should be adequately knowledgeable of S&T policies. Likewise, the advisory staff should be strongly linked to the actual scientific environment of the country. Additional actions required for the strengthening of S&T have been identified in the establishment of foundations for basic science and in the access to private sources of funding. A special role to facilitate access should be requested by the governments to be played by the multinational companies operating in Africa, especially in primary sectors. These multinationals should be encouraged to support R&D in S&T. A complementary action should be the promotion of fiscal and financial incentives to private and public firms for investment in R&D. This could be accompanied by the promotion of local firms, such as engineering firms, as a tool to enhance the market for technically trained people. The need for increasing technical manpower requires a policy of equality in the access to all levels of scientific education. Loans to students seem to be an appropriate mechanism for this, and banks should be encouraged to identify and implement suitable modalities for such loans. These actions by national governments must be accompanied by strong and visible actions at the international level. African governments should request that the 1979 Vienna Program of Action be reexamined at the beginning of the new century and, after analyzing the causes of its failure, be suitably revised. African collaborative relationships with funding institutions should be developed, for example with the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the Arab Bank, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), other intergovernmental funders, and private sector funders. This requires that African nations offer the funding agencies clear economic arguments to support their request for S&T programs. Such action would benefit from the support of agencies like UNESCO and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), and from scientific associations and institutions like the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the Third World Association for the Advancement of Science (TWAS), the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), the International Institute of Theoretical and Applied Physics (IITAP),and the International Physics Seminar (IPS). In particular, UNESCO could be instrumental in proposing that the banks launch, and possibly run, a broad program of S&T development. The results of this meeting should be presented in important forums such as the Organization for African Unity (OAU) and the forthcoming UNESCO World Conference on Science for the 21st century: a new commitment. For this purpose it may be appropriate to establish a committee which can act in cooperation with the African Mathematical and Physics Unions to further policy changes in S&T for Africa. A final point of consensus was that these political strategies on S&T in Africa cannot lead to any sustainable situation unless scientists are used in areas where they are competent and in their own country/region, thus alleviating internal and external brain drain. One very important way of doing so is for governments to insure that adequate living and working conditions are provided to these scientists. We submit that a comprehensive assessment of ALL S&T activities and resources in Africa is key to progress and implementation of the other categories that were identified in the workshop and presented in this White Paper. Several assessments have already been performed and this fact must be taken into consideration.
Strategies: How should assessment be carried out? There is a need for a comprehensive assessment of Africa’s S&T. This needs to be followed by some action, such as a research and capacity foresight exercise, which would provide bases for a focused approach to the utilization of constrained resources. A set of modelling exercises should be implemented to measure, in the African context, the social and economic impact of S&T. These three items are elaborated upon below: assessment, planning and modelling. For each of these items, a broad overview or motivation is given first, after which are listed more specific points generated in the brainstorming session. Broadly, the assessment should cover the following areas:
Specifically, the following items should be considered, among others, in the assessment of African S&T systems and capacities:
In a broad sense, there is a need to identify regional and continental thrust areas so as to have a focused approach to optimal employment of S&T resources. We further submit that the generation of data within the African assessment will be extremely relevant if done in such a context. It is therefore necessary to implement an assessment of those natural resources, that could facilitate the development of S&T. Specifically, there is a need to explore the environmental impact of S&T (e.g., renewable energy, water, soil and ecosystem management, eco-tourism). Broadly, we have identified a need to develop clearly understandable models to inform policy makers and the public at large about the significant economic and social impacts of S&T. Specifically, it is necessary to quantify economic impact of S&T in Africa, to study the role of industrial investment for the promotion of S&T, and to study the role of S&T for industrial development. The nature of any interventions in capacity-building will be greatly enhanced if there is a very clear understanding of the S&T systems and their capacities. This will be provided by a rigorous audit to determine what is already there and what is necessary, i.e., determine the gap. Further capacity-building will be enhanced by an understanding of the particular social and economic challenges facing Africa and the role of S&T in addressing these. This will also be enhanced by an understanding of the cultural context of the required development. The modelling and foresight exercises will help with providing direction for these interventions for capacity-building. Capacity-building
In order for a capacity-building initiative to be effective, it is assumed that certain conditions will be in place. They include the following:
Any capacity-building program in S&T in the region must have the following objectives:
In order to realize the above objectives, it is recommended to promote regional cooperation by:
Infrastructure
and telecommunications • In order to effectively attain an operational capacity in S&T, it is a necessary prerequisite that adequate infrastructure be established in information technology, in particular through national telecommunication policies, to enable African researches and educators to utilize optimally their resources. For the purposes of achieving the above objective, it is recommended to:
_______________________________________________________________________ African Program for Science and Technology
The members of APSaTSCo are: Bawa, Ahmed Deputy Vice Chancellor, University of Natal,
South Africa Bedford, Donald University of Natal, South Africa
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