1. Science with Africa Conference 3 - 7 March 2008 Aida Opoku-Mensah Director ICTs, Science & Technology Division (ISTD), UNECA Meeting of the Committee of Experts 1st Joint Annual Meetings AU Conference of Ministers of Economy and Finance ECA Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 26 - 29 March 2008

2. African Regional Agenda on S & T AUC 2004-2007 Plan of Actions NEPAD 2005 S&T Consolidated Plan of Action UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/60/204 “Important role of science, technology and innovation in enhancing economic well-being is widely recognized.”

3. African Regional Agenda on S & T AU Summit of Heads of State and Government January 2007, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia  Theme: “Science, Technology and Scientific Research for Development”  Declared the year 2007 as the lunching year of building constituencies and champions for STI in Africa  Supported the establishment of Pan African Intellectual Property Organization (PAIPO)  Reiterated its commitment to Khartoum 2006 decision urging Member States to allocate at least 1% of GDP to R&D  Endorsed the need for South- South and North–South cooperation in STI

4. Rationale for Investments in Science  Investment in S&T crucial to the development process  Africa is the only region yet to exploit the potentials of S&T ECA Publication

5.  High level of scientific skills and know-how for participation in the knowledge economy  S & T Investments = Economic Growth+Industrial Dev Participation in a Knowledge Economy Global Competitiveness Index rankings 2007-2008 (World Economic Forum)

6. Challenges facing Africa  The scale of challenge facing Africa in the area of Science and Technology is huge including: low science and technology capacity, low investment in research and development, inadequate regulatory regimes, poor infrastructural base, and a lack of access to helpful scientific ideas.

7. R & D Capacity Africa has 83 engineers for every one million people, the developed world has 1000 engineers per one million people

8. R & D funding in Africa is still lower than 1% of its GDP World Bank data shows that OECD countries spend more on research and development annually than the total value of economic output of 61 of the world’s poorest countries

9. Intellectual patent application to WIPO from developing countries in 2007

10. Positive Signs  Positive indications, which this conference should help to deepen: South Africa, Uganda and Ghana amongst others have emphasized their intention to increase investment in R&D in their 2006-2007 budgets

11. Resolution of the European Parliament of 18.02.2008 5.Calls for the reinforcement of existing research infrastructure in accordance with the indications of the African Union and the African scientific community, including the NEPAD Office for Science and Technology, programmes of the African Union and R&D projects, in particular in specific sectors such as food, health and energy; 6.Urges Member States to promote S&T cooperation with Africa that will rapidly secure genuine and comprehensive development of the knowledge and technologies in the African countries themselves; 7.Notes that scientific progress contributes to the economic and social development envisaged in the Millennium Development Goals; calls in particular on the European Union to place climate change at the forefront of its S&T cooperation with Africa, tapping primarily into the huge renewable energy sources available in Africa, with particular reference to solar energy;

12. Resolution of the European Parliament of 18.02.2008 8.Urges Member States to promote knowledge and technology transfer between the EU and Africa; 9.Calls on the European Union and the Member States to ensure greater consistency between the EU's international S&T policy and the basic needs of African countries, thus leading to the development of a new global framework for science and diplomacy with Africa; 10.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Member State parliaments and the United Nations.

13. Science With Africa: Objectives  Increased synergies between European, USA and other global science based organisations and those of Africa, to promote North- South cooperation, to foster technology transfer and to improve existing R&D activities, centers of excellence and partnerships;  Improved linkages between international scientific research programmes and business enterprise to expedite economic growth in Africa  Provide a framework for using Science and Technology options to support economic progress in Africa

14. Science With Africa: Participation The conference brought together over 600 participants representing:  African member States  Asian, European and North American countries  International and regional organisations  Business communities  Civil society organisations  Development partners

15. Science With Africa: Participation  High-Level delegates:  6 Ministers from Algeria, Congo, Ethiopia, Guinea, Swaziland, and Tanzania  2 Speakers of Parliament (Rwanda and Togo)  13 Members of Parliament (Burkina Faso, Ghana (2), Namibia, Nigeria (3), Niger, Rwanda (2), Togo, and Tunisia (2)  Deputy Prime Minister of Slovakia 44 African countries  Representation of scientists, CSOs, private sector from 44 African countries: Algéria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Congo, Comoro, Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, DRC, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe

16. Science With Africa: Participation Over 60 Regional, International Organisations and UN Institutions Over 60 Regional, International Organisations and UN Institutions participated, including: AUC, AfDB, African Academy of Sciences, African Center of Meteorological Applications for Development (ACMAD), African Clinical Research Organization (ACRO), ARIPO, African Society of Scientific Research and Technology, Association of Commonwealth Universities, Bellanet Africa, Brainstore, British Council, COMESA, EC, European Parliament, European Science Foundation, FAO, Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), GKP, Global Water Partnership, GTZ, Imperial College, International Council for Science (ICSU), IFPRI, IITA, ILRI, International Research Institute for Climate and Society, IUCEA, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Korean Science and Technology Policy Institute, Médicins du Monde, Nile Basin Initiative, Nokia, Nokia Siemens Networks, OSSREA, Pan-African Institute for Technology and Development (PAITD), Pasteur Institute, Schoolnet Africa, SDC, Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), UNDP, UNEP, UNESCO, UNIDO, United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), United Nations Human Rights Office, WFP, and WHO.

17. Science With Africa: Conference Partners  AUC  Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)  Canadian e-Policy Resource Centre (CePRC) Knowledge partners:  UNESCO, Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP), and BrainStore Conference sponsors:  Ethiopian Airlines, Microsoft, and Nokia Siemens Networks

18. Key Issues Discussed The conference featured 10 opening and keynote speeches, 24 plenary speeches and presentations in 5 plenary sessions and 53 full and short paper presentations in 9 breakout sessions focusing on:  STI policy  Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), patents and technology transfer  High Level Panel on the Future of STI in Africa  International programmes to support STI  Energy, water, transport and infrastructure  ICTs and innovation  Agriculture, health and life sciences  Science with Africa marketplace  Developing guideline for health research in Africa  Cross cutting issues: STI capacity building and climate change in Africa

19. Ideas Factory  ECA, Brainstore and GKP with the support of the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC) facilitated a knowledge sharing process during the conference Ideas Factory  The knowledge sharing process led by Brainstore, was in a form of an Ideas Factory where the conference participants developed ideas on how African R&D can be strengthened and participation of African scientists in international research projects can be notably increased

20. Ideas Factory: 20 Selected Ideas

24. SWA Outcomes & Recommended Actions Specific recommendations made on:  Science Technology and Innovation (STI) policies in Africa  Funds for STI Policy implementation: The case of the EC  Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), patents and technology transfer  International programmes to support STI in Africa  R&D Idea factory  Energy, water, transport and infrastructure  ICTs and innovation  Agriculture, health and life sciences  Developing guidelines for health research in Africa  STI capacity building

25. Way Forward  The Conference overall recommended that ECA, in collaboration with the AUC and UNESCO, and under the framework of the AU/NEPAD S&T Consolidated Plan of Action, will constitute a Working Group to define the programme priorities for implementation of recommendations and the ideas of this conference  Implementation will be at the regional, sub-regional and country levels, within the established mandate of each institution

26. Thank you !http://www.uneca.org/sciencewithafrica