Harnessing Science and Technology for Africa’s Development

________________Prof Tshilidzi Marwala OMB PhD

Executive Dean Faculty of Engineering & the Built Environment

University of Johannesburg (UJ)Auckland Park, South Africa

http://www.tshilidzimarwala.com

Overview• Africa Today• Africa in 30 Years Time• Where should Africa be in 2050?• Current Challenges• Bridging the Expectation Gap• Scientific areas needed for Africa’s development• Open Questions• Conclusions and Questions

http://www.tshilidzimarwala.com

Africa Today

• The African continent currently has a total annual GDP of US$1.6 trillion (McKinsey & Co);

• Its economy is the third fastest growing region on the planet after China and India;

• In 2009 it recorded an estimated 5% growth and thus added US$70 billion to the World economy;

• The African continent has over 1 billion people• The literacy rate is at an all-time high• The continent is more democratic than ever

before

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Africa in 30 Year’s Time

• Nigeria will become the largest economy in continent in less than 20 years time.

• The African continent will have over 2 billion people in 40 years

• The African economy will be more integrated• The levels of democratization will be greatly

expanded• The number of educated people will be much

more than today

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Where should Africa be in 2050?• Factory floor for the world economy• 80% of people should be literate• Decreased levels of epidemics and pandemics• Much more secured nations and coast lines• High levels of communication connectivity• Environmentally friendly continent• Increased number of people who are trained in

Science and Technology• More people with postgraduate qualifications

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Current ChallengesCurrent Challenges

Climate change

Climate change

Poverty

Cris

is

Poverty

Cris

is

Skills

shorta

ge

Skills

shorta

ge

Health Crisis

Health Crisis

Energy crisisEnergy crisis

African System

Financial

Stability

Political

Stability

Food

Security

Economic

Stability

Courtesy Dr. C. Nonkwelo

Bridging the Gap

• Positioning of Science and Technology within the political, social and economic spaces

• Building and Expanding Institutions that support Science and Technology– Expanding Educational Infrastructures– Expanding research and development

infrastructure

What is Science?

• “systematic enterprise of gathering and condensing knowledge into testable laws and theories” wikipedia

• Scientific method has been developed to deal with complex phenomena

• Examples: Physical Science, Biological Science, Mathematical Sciences

What is Technology?

• The objects or processes that are derived from the application of science

• Examples: Communication Technology (object: cell phone); Biomedical technology (object: stethoscope)

Bridging the Gap: Political Space

• We need to invest in Science and Technology (South Africa invests less than 1% of GDP into research in S&T)

• We need to support and expand state institutions such as the CSIR and NRF

• We need to increase our capacity to formulate and implement Science and Technology (S&T) Policy.

• We need to develop capacity to produce and exploit intellectual property

• We need to develop mechanisms to better trade of scientific goods

Bridging the Gap: Social Space

• We need to increase scientific literacy within the general populace

• We need to use community infrastructures to increase the capacity to produce students with Mathematics and Science competency

• Get communities to adopt technological tools to improve their quality of life

Bridging the Gap: Economic Space

• We need to use science and technology to increase economic participation

• We need to invest into strategic technologies that would increase competitiveness

• We need to use S&T to solve problems such as food shortage

Some areas critical for Africa’s Development

• Space sciences • Energy• Biotechnology • Information & communications technology • Climate change

Space sciences

• Remote sensing to increase visibility of areas of geographic importance e.g. land usage and agriculture

• Monitoring of the coast lines e.g. enforce fishing rights

• Communication e.g. satellite communication• Understand the evolution of the universe e.g.

Square kilometers array

Energy

• Diversify energy sources– Nuclear– Hydro– Biomass– Solar

• Put emphasis on renewable energy

• Integrate the African energy pool

• Efficient utilization of energy

Biotechnology• Indigenous pharmaceutical production• Genetically modified crops• Increase fuel production e.g. ethanol• Bioinformatics• Blue biotechnology – marine and aquatic

applications of biotechnology• Green biotechnology • Red biotechnology – application to medicine• White biotechnology – application to industrial

processes

Information & communications technology

• Connectivity• Computing• Internet• Broadband• Digitization• Computational/Artificial intelligence• Outsourcing• Call centres

Climate change

• Risks of coastal flooding• Risks of droughts• Desertification• Diseases• Destruction of the ecosystem

Open Questions?

• What are other S&T areas of criticality for Africa’s Development?

• What is the role of African integration on promoting S&T?

• What is the role of African leadership in promoting S&T?

• How do we stop and reverse brain drain in the S&T sector?

• How do we use S&T to modernize the African community?

Open Questions?

• What is the relationship between S&T and the future of mankind?

• How do we effectively use innovation to drive economic growth?

• What is the optimal investment into S&T to drive development?

• How do we effectively invest into S&T to improve health?

Open Questions?

• How do we build the Post Kyoto world?• What is the impact of ICT on economy, society

and quality of life?• What is the optimal combination of energy

sources to ensure the security of supply?• What is the political economy of S&T?

Conclusions

• It can be done!• Questions