Skip to main content

The role of Africa in advancing science


From March 24-28, 2013, the first ever Festival of Science was held at the University of Makerere in Kampala, Uganda (BBC, March 18, 2013). Hosted by the BBC World Service, it showcased examples of significant international scientific research and explored how African science has contributed to the global science agenda.

The Festival of Science in Uganda provided a unique opportunity to showcase new innovations in a range of scientific areas, from agriculture to technology. Live daily radio broadcasts facilitated discussions on the changing nature of scientific research in an African context. The daily themes included: (1) Where is science in Africa? (2) Cutting edge science in Africa (3) Health in Africa (4) Agriculture and (5) The future – can Africa become a centre for global excellence in science?  

Following on from the Uganda science festival is the upcoming International Scientific Conference: Inauguration of the Advancement of Science in Africa, in Polokwane, South Africa, in the University of Limpopo from April 25-28, 2013.

The aim of the international conference is "to inventory and nurture the rich pool of scientific authors and their contributions in Africa and the Diaspora to provide the long overdue platform of expression of significant African participation in the advancement of science.” It also aims to attract international investment and scientific collaboration with the rest of the world in science education and research. “This would have the effect of attracting African scientists currently residing outside the continent to return to their home country, to discourage them from migrating outside the continent’s borders, and to unite the continent scientifically,” state the conference organizers.

The conference information states that, to date, there have been no Nobel winners emanating from science disciplines in African universities and no African university exclusively dedicated to African science and technology. Therefore they are calling on a serious effort to build a knowledge-based scientific community within the significant untapped potential in science. They also call for African governments to play a prominent role in financially supporting scientific research, laboratories, research teams and individual scientists.

Africa’s scientific potential for global recognition is immense. It includes a vast range of scientific areas. These include anthropology (cultures, languages and human development); archaeology (artefacts from ancient civilizations such as Timbuktu in Mali and Lalibela in Ethiopia); biology (African plants); biotechnology (tropical medicine); ecology (environmental management); entomology (insects and locust plagues); environmentalists; parasitologists (African parasites); and social scientists to name a few examples.

Most scientific research on Africa is conducted by researchers—African and non-African—based outside the continent. The conference therefore seeks to bring together a collective knowledge of African scientists and African science, in every scientific field, in order to shape a Vision of African Science for the continent’s present and future, to build an internal capacity that “uses external science as a complement and not a dependence of it.” It also hopes to strengthen the linkages between various research institutes and departments internally (within Africa), and to collectively network with global organizations for the advancement of science in Africa.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2013/fesitval-of-science-uganda.html
http://www.allconferences.com/Science/
http://www.ul.ac.za

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh  (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. That
1 comment
Read more

Flaws in the Glass, a self-portrait by Patrick White: book review

The manuscript, Flaws in the Glass (1981), is Patrick Victor Martindale White’s autobiography. White, born in 1912 in England, migrated to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. For three years, at the age of 20, he studied French and German literature at King’s College at the University of Cambridge in England. Throughout his life, he published 12 novels. In 1957 he won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award for Voss, published in 1956. In 1961, Riders in the Chariot became a best-seller, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award. In 1973, he was the first Australian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Eye of the Storm, despite many critics describing his works as ‘un-Australian’ and himself as ‘Australia’s most unreadable novelist.’ In 1979, The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but he withdrew it from the competition to give younger writers the opportunity to win the award. His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass
Post a Comment
Read more

The Beggars' Strike by Aminata Sow Fall: book review

The Beggar’sStrike (1979 in French and 1981 in English) is set in an unstated country in West Africa in a city known only as The Capital. Undoubtedly, Senegalese author Sow Fall writes of her own experiences. It was also encapsulated in the 2000 film, Battu , directed by Cheick Oumar Sissoko from Mali. Mour Ndiaye is the Director of the Department of Public Health and Hygiene, with the opportunity of a distinguished and coveted promotion to Vice-President of the Republic. Tourism has declined and the government blames the local beggars in The Capital. Ndiaye must rid the streets of beggars, according to a decree from the Minister. Ndiaye instructs his department to carry out weekly raids. One of the raids leads to the death of lame beggar, Madiabel, who ran into an oncoming vehicle as he tried to escape, leaving two wives and eight children. Soon after, another raid resulted in the death of the old well-loved, comic beggar Papa Gorgui Diop. Enough is enou
8 comments
Read more