How do we create a critical mass of highly skilled scientists in Africa? This question has been debated in many fora, including at the World Economic Forum (WEF).
The African Union’s response to the question is set in its Agenda 2063, which envisages a prosperous Africa that is based on inclusive growth and sustainable development through investment in education, skills development and science.
If this ambitious socio-economic transformation is to be achieved, then Africa must ready itself now in order to realise its dreams.
Although there is a strong desire for investment in African science, WEF says:
It is a vision that is far from being realised. African research, development and innovation suffer from chronic underinvestment and poor implementation. The continent is home to 15 percent of the world’s population and 25 percent of the global burden of disease, but it produces just two percent of the world’s research output.
However, it is not all gloom and doom. Some progress is being made albeit too slowly. The World Bank has noted that many African countries now have a Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) policy and have increased their research and development (R&D) budget substantially between 2009 to 2013 (from around 0.3 percent to 0.6 percent of GDP).
Some countries, the Bank says have leveraged ”private capital through technology and innovation hubs and incubators, the continent is developing an environment for R&D and technology-led entrepreneurship to solve various challenges including climate change, food security, health and energy.” However, the bank notes that despite that fact, on average, only 0.4 percent of GDP is spent on R&D in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) compared to the world average of 1.7 percent. The number of scientists and engineers are still low compared to industrialised countries. The SSA region only has 91 researchers per million inhabitants compared to the world average of 1,083 researchers. SSA countries lack a critical mass of graduates in scientific disciplines.”
As a result, a Partnership for skills in Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology (PASET) was launched in 2013 as a platform that will accelerate Africa’s socio-economic transformation by developing skilled professionals in applied sciences, engineering and technology fields.
This will eventually enable millions of young people to participate in an increasingly innovative and technological workforce needed to address the continent’s challenges through scientific and technical research and innovation.
PASET’s governance consists of a governing council (education ministers from African countries); an executive board (African governments and donor organisations); a consultative advisory group (eminent scientists, academics, TVET experts, and private sector leaders appointed by the executive board to provide it with technical advice; and a secretariat hosted at the World Bank that facilitates PASET’s governance and initiatives.
The partnership brings together African governments, the private sector, and new partners, such as Brazil, China, India, and Korea, to invest in Africa. Its focus is on maximizing investment in key sectors, while increasing the capacity of universities, research centers and technical and vocational education and training (TVET) centers to generate knowledge and skilled workforce as well as researchers and innovators relevant to Africa’s development challenges.
There has never been such a comprehensive arrangement to get Africa to develop her scientific capacity as this partnership has done. This is a lifetime opportunity for Africa to get its act together and propel the continent from the throws of poverty.
For this to happen, each country must create an enabling environment by improving connectivity to national research and education networks connecting all universities and (TVETs), encourage development of local content, promote personalised learning, invest more into R&D and commercialise research outputs.
FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
Two weeks ago, in Kigali, PASET had its 5th Forum where several countries attending made commitments towards their preparedness to meet the challenges of the emerging Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).
The objectives of the Forum were to explain the 4IR and the opportunities and risks for Africa; share global models and approaches to adapt higher education and TVET ecosystems to disruptive changes brought about by the 4IR and digital economy; provide update on PASET’s growth and progress and strengthen PASET as partnership; mobilize financing and technical assistance for PASET’s initiatives among governments, partner countries and organizations, private sector, development partners and donors. The forum also deliberated on new PASET initiatives related to developing digital skills for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and discussed helping countries formulate action plans.
Speaking at the forum, Sajitha Bashir, the World Bank Group Education Practice Manager, East Africa, urged participants to focus on the priority issues that they need to address in order to prepare their higher education and TVET systems for the emerging 4IR.
Specifically, she urged university and TVET leaders to reflect on the emerging skills needs, especially digital skills, the opportunities for using digital technology to change the delivery of their programs and how they can help to drive Africa’s transformation using science and technology.
Africa has in the past missed opportunities in previous revolutions and somehow remained alive but missing the 4IR will be as catastrophe as to confine the continent into oblivion. We owe it to ourselves to do what it takes and take advantage of it.
The writer is an associate professor at University of Nairobi’s School of Business.@bantigito
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