Joel Ajayi
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Nigeria has urged African leaders to harness the power of Science, Technology and Innovation toward the growth of Continent economy.
Tinubu made this appeal yesterday in Abuja when he declared open the 15th Edition of African Academy for Science, AAS, where over 300 participants across the Africa and the world gathered to chat a way forward for the sector.
President who was represented by Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Uche Nnaji said that Africa has huge potentials in STI to make continent the great on.
According to him, Science, innovation and technology, they said, are critical to the transformation of the continent in agriculture, industry and poverty eradication.
“Let us harness the power of science to transform our society, uplift our economies, and improve the quality of life for all Africans.
“Together, we can build a future where scientific excellence is the hallmark of Africa’s development”.
The United Nations Population Fund ,UNFPA, has called on African countries to invest more on female education to increase the numbers of female scientist in the continent
The Executive Director UNFPA Dr Natalia Kanem made the call on Tuesday at the 15th Bi-Annual General Assembly and Scientific Conference of the African Academy of Sciences holding in Abuja with the theme: “Empowering and Advancing Africa’s Scientific Enterprise” holding
The Executive Director, UNFPA, Dr. Natalia Kanem who was represented by the UNFPA Secretary in Nigeria, Nathaniel Nau, stated that Africa needs to invest more on the girl child education so that we can have more female scientists.
“We need urgent investment in education, particularly girl education, access to healthcare, youth employment, entrepreneurship, and we believe that AAS can contribute greatly to that.
Speaking further he said, ” From its humble beginning in the 1980s, the African Academy of Science has grown into a leading pan-African institution, nurturing the next generation of African scientists.
“Its fellows and researchers are at the forefront of groundbreaking research and innovation, addressing critical issues such as climate change, behavioral sciences, governance, data, demographic transition, youth empowerment, vaccine development, and maternal sexual and reproductive health”.
“The AAS has established itself as a vital community of science and scholars whose work align with and significantly contribute to key aspects of UNFPA mission, that is to ensure that no woman dies while giving birth, that pregnancies remain a choice, not a chance, and that there is no gender-based violence to women and girls”.
” UNFPA is proud to be a partner and sponsor of this General Assembly and we assure you of our steadfast support as you continue this noble mission”, he added
In her her remarks the President of AAS, Prof. Lise Korsten said the desires of the Academy is to see birth of Africa’s sustainable development through Science Technology and Innovation ,STI.
“At the heart of our Academy lies a profound commitment to accelerating Africa’s sustainable development through science and innovation.
“Since 2015, the AAS, with a mandate from the African Union, has been working with the African Union Development Agency AUDA-NEPAD, and other partners to drive sustainable development in Africa through STI.
“A recent review of the STISA 2024 noted that Africa has made commendable progress in scientific productivity, recording a 135% increase in number of scientific publications from 73,055 in 2014 to 171,576 in 2022.
“However, Africa’s scientific outputs in 2022 accounted for only 3.6% of the global output with most of the publications produced through collaborations with researchers in the global north.
“These statistics highlight the need for more commitments and investments, not just to sustain the gains made but also to help bring Africa closer to the rest of the world in capacities for research and Innovation.
“As Africa embarks on the next 10-year implementation period of its STI strategy ,STISA-2034, the AAS avails itself of this opportunity to consolidate the gains made to continue advancing Africa’s research and innovation agenda”.
She pledged that, AAS will work to strengthen intra-Africa and international Science Technology and Innovation ,STI, partnerships to build African capacities for STI diplomacy and leadership with scientific productivity.
