Science with Africa Conference3 - 7 March 2008

Aida Opoku-Mensah

Director

ICTs, Science & Technology Division (ISTD), UNECA

Meeting of the Committee of Experts1st 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

African Regional Agenda on S & T

AUC2004-2007

Plan of Actions

NEPAD2005 S&T

ConsolidatedPlan of ActionUN General Assembly

Resolution A/RES/60/204

“Important role of science, technology and innovation

in enhancing economic well-being is widely

recognized.”

African Regional Agenda on S & T

AU Summit of Heads of State and

GovernmentJanuary 2007, Addis

Ababa, Ethiopia

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

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

High level of scientific skills and know-how for participation in the knowledge economy

S & T Investments = Economic Growth+Industrial Dev

Participation in a Knowledge Economy

Global Competitiveness Index rankings 2007-2008 (World Economic Forum)

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

North America25%

Latin America and the

Caribbean3%Europe

33%

Africa1%

Asia37%

Oceania1%

R & D funding in Africa is still lower than 1% of its GDP

Gross Domestic Expenditure (GERD) as a % of GDP

2.7

2.3

1.7

1.7

1.4

1.5

1

0.6

0.3

0.3

0.2

0.1

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3

North America

Developed countries

World

Europe

Oceania

Asia

Developing countries

Latin America and the Caribbean

Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa

Arab States (Africa)

Arab States (Asia)

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 North-South 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 44 African countriescountries: 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 InstitutionsOver 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 DiscussedThe 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 FactoryIdeas 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 ActionsSpecific 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/sciencewithafricahttp://www.uneca.org/sciencewithafrica