Gameli Adzaho being experimented by pupils of lab_13 Ghana Programme
“Africa was largely bypassed by the last three industrial revolutions. The pressure is on to catch up and keep pace so Africa is not left in the wake of technological progress.”
These were the opening remarks of President Paul Kagame of Rwanda at the Next Einstein Forum (NEF), held in Kagali, Rwanda’s capital.
Hosting the biennial event which is confident that the next ‘Einstein’ will come from Africa, Mr Kagame said the continent really cannot be satisfied with just ending extreme poverty.
“Our aim is shared and sustainable prosperity. And the key to that is science and innovation, bound by research,” he stated.
Indeed, the president of one of the fastest growing economies in East Africa did not mince words on the important role science and technology innovation play to national development when he opened the three-day event, organised by AIMS, in partnership with the Robert Bosch Stiftung, to showcase African science researchers.
Rwanda’s Example
Rwanda has been lauded for its educational reform over the past 20 years, having invested heavily in becoming a knowledge-based economy in which information and communication technology (ICT) play a big role.
Mr Kagame cited that his government is focused on investing in the ICT sector and supporting education and research in the field because science touches every aspect of economy.
“When we started investing in ICT around the year 2000, many people thought it was a joke. They would say ‘how can you start investing in ICT when people have no food, no education, no access to hospitals?
The answer at that time was that Rwanda didn’t have the luxury of setting priorities; everything was a priority for us. And ICT related to every other aspect we were thinking about,” President Kagame mentioned.
He said the approach the country took was to prioritise everything as important and interconnected to national development.
“We are not prioritising ICT and leaving others behind, we tried to create a balance and share the limited resources we had. I think we have been vindicated in this regard,” he revealed.
Next Einstein Forum (NEF)
The economical impact of science and technology and its ripple effects on other developmental issues cannot be over emphasized.
For instance, Quartz Africa revealed that African tech start-ups raised nearly $600 million as of 2017, an income which can be claimed to have significant impact on humanity with the right engagements and opportunities like the NEF.
“We want to create a conducive environment for young African scientists to really flourish and fulfill their research”, Thierry Zomahoun, founder and chairman of the Next Einstein Forum, explained.
“We want to engage in a dynamic environment which makes it possible for young African scientists to show what they are capable of and display their genius,” he added.
Corroborating the need for such platforms to showcase Africa’s scientific innovators, Senegalese President Macky Sall indicated that the Next Einstein Forum will help the continent move the discipline forward.
‘‘We have committed to increase investments in science technology to reach 0.7 % of GDP by 2020 and 1 % by 2025,” he said, referring to Senegal’s commitment to science and technology research.
Changing The Way We Learn
The two presidents raised the debate at the conference a notch higher as policymakers and scientists grappled with the practical implications of creating knowledge-led societies.
Leading the discussion, Presidents Macky Sall and Paul Kagame reflected on past policies and future plans necessary to nurture the creative, skilled and populations that will form the bedrock of knowledge-led economies in Africa.
President Sall called on African states to balance the focus on improving the quality of science and STEM subjects in higher education with policy reforms that are able to attract foreign investment into the technology sectors.
“We need to have similar public private partnerships like those you see here at NEF. African states also need to believe in technology. Technology is what separates states today. Africa cannot be absent from the world stage in terms of innovation,” Macky Sall underscored, citing India and Japan as successful examples of the approach.
Shifting the focus on the processes and systems by which knowledge is acquired and communicated, Dr Aku Kwamie, a Ghanaian health policy expert and first female NEF fellow, captured the thrust of the ‘changing the way we learn’ topic.
She argued for a fluid approach to science curriculums that focus on multiple interventions in the teaching sector, and included the family, government and the individual motivation of teachers and their students.
“We need to re-respect the teaching profession. We need to develop reflexive thinking in our teachers and students. This takes collaborative effort of government, teachers and every stakeholder in this sector. We must respect our teachers and remember they have dreams, aspirations and families,” Ms Kwamie said.
Overcoming Barriers
But the situation on the ground is quite different from government policies regarding the investment and development of science and technology in Africa.
Gameli Adzaho, a Ghanaian environmental and human health specialist, highlighted that the transition from policy to implementation is not always smooth.
“The policies are there on paper, but when it comes to implementation there are some aspects that are shaky. Once you create a system and some of the parts are not functioning well, what you get is that the overall output that will not reach the level that you want and that is the story of science and technology in Ghana,” he said, referring to Ghana’s technological progress.
Mr Adzaho, a STEM educator and founder of Global Lab Network, a movement that gives young people the opportunity to use their scientific knowledge to solve societal skills, pointed out that the lack of a structured system to support brilliant science students in the country is making the country lose out on its human capital (scientists).
“It is like a struggle against the system. We have the human capacity the potential but we need to tweak our system to move, much more swiftly from policy to the field,” he added.
Proposing Solutions
Prof Frimpong Boateng, Minister for Environment, Science & Technology, agreed to the fact that science, technology and innovation need to be applied to aspects of development and thus need to be prioritised by the government of Ghana.
To this end, he said government has pledged to increase its allocation for scientific research and development from 0.025 percent of the national GDP, which is most inadequate, to 1 percent.
“Government promised to up allocation to 1 percent, meaning we will have resources for scientists to be able to set up institutions and the things they need to do research which will make a difference.
Those who are making it like South East Asia, some spend about 2.5 to 3 percent on research and development so if we are not able to raise it to 1 percent of GDP in the short term it will help us but in the long term it will go about 2 to 3 per cent of GDP,” he disclosed.
Proposing the way forward to Ghana’s science, technology and innovation development, Ms Kwamie stated that a single system alone will not work.
“If we look at government, it has to do a series of things. It has to create the enabling environment for those who have graduated to find space in the job markets, so when we train our bright minds and they go to the best schools in the world, how do we attract them back,” she said.
Rwandan government has, for instance, put in place an incentive which had ensured that about 85 percent of the Rwandans who study abroad return home.
She indicated that another thing the government of Ghana can do is to have a dialogue with industry and academia in a convenient space, where the three can come together to strategise on their roles in developing science, technology and innovation in the country.
“When we criticise these three stakeholders for not coming together often there are no structure for them to come together, and they all speak a totally different language.
But if they can convene around the same space understand what the priorities for government are for national development what can academia do and what can industry do, that is helpful,” NEF fellow Ms Kwamie added.
She also called on the stakeholder government ministries to work together in highlighting the achievement of the scientists in Ghana by honouring them at the national level.
“The world is changing dramatically, everyone is talking about the forth industrial revolution and how science and tech are going to transform society what it means is that we have the opportunity to become the leader if you have the right skills and technology,” Mr Adzaho highlighted.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri