Science diplomacy mooted as solution to achieve African Union Agenda 2063

Africa’s Agenda 2063 – the blueprint aimed at transforming the continent into the global powerhouse – will not be achieved without science diplomacy, a top diplomat has said.

Dr Almamy Konte, of the Africa Union Commission of Human Resources Science and Technology, told the Second Calestous Juma Executive Dialogue on Innovation and Emerging Technologies (CJED), held at the African Union (AU) headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia recently that such diplomacy will help build and boost constructive partnerships.

The CJED honours the late Kenyan scientist Prof Juma, who was Chair of AU High-Level Panel on Emerging Technologies (APET).

He was a renowned global authority in the application of science and technology to sustainable development. Prof Juma was named one of the most influential 100 Africans in 2012, 2013 and 2014 by the New African magazine.

The late Juma was a professor of the Practice of International Development and Faculty Chair of the Innovation for Economic Development Executive Program at Harvard Kennedy School.

Dr Konte said science diplomacy can help achieve Agenda 2063 through intra-Africa and international scientific collaborations to address common problems.

Agenda 2063 is the continent’s strategic framework that aims to tap into inclusive and sustainable development.

It is a manifestation of the pan-African drive for unity, self-determination, freedom, progress and collective prosperity pursued under Pan-Africanism and African Renaissance.

Capital expenditure

The meeting also discussed the correlation between capital expenditure on Research and Development (R&D). The three top R&D spenders were USA (Sh47 trillion or $476.5 billion), China (Sh34 trillion or $340.6 billion) and Japan (Sh17 trillion or $170.5 billion).

In Africa, only Malawi, Uganda and South Africa spend above one per cent of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on R&D.

A 19-country survey indicated that the remaining 16 countries spend only between 0.2 per cent and 0.48 per cent on R&D.

Participants heard that Africa is losing half its scientists, compounding the challenge of achieving the goals of Agenda 2063 - due to lack of funding and appropriate infrastructure.

There is also a disconnect between R&D and real products that have a benefit to society - partly as a result of the small or existent private sector. Dr Konte said intra-Africa trade stands at 17 per cent compared to 59 per cent in Asia and 69 per cent in Europe.

He said scientific diplomacy, driven by scientific collaborations could help drive intra-Africa trade and cooperation. He, however, lamented that Africa contributes only four per cent to scientific publications and attributed this to the lack of intra-Africa collaboration.

Participants noted the challenge of African nations attracting the 170 million Africans in the diaspora. Africa, noted Dr Konte, would require a new mindset to develop and tap newer technologies since dealing with future challenges would require leaders to think out of the box.

Without this, the AU Agenda 2063 of creating a prosperous, integrated Africa, where citizens have a say in which they are governed would remain a pipe dream.

-Daniel Kamanga is the Executive Director of ALT Foundation