S cience, technology and innovation are the key building blocks of any society; many powerful and developed countries were founded by their advancement and education in science, technology and innovation (STI) with many governments from around the world spending vast amounts of their budget on investing in institutes such as universities to promote the development of STI.
Now the continent of Africa are jumping on board and taking a keen interest in developing their own Science and technology needs with many leading figures such as Alvaro Sobrinho leading the way in bringing the African nations up to par with Europe, Asia and America.
Although African Nations have a long history in Science and technology it has only recently started to realize the importance of structuring their science and technological advancements to benefit the entire continent. The idea being to get locally grown innovations and advancement in technologies to challenge the many problems that have plagued a lot of Africa in the past such as food security and clean drinking water, a good example of this is Ugandan scientists are now developing genetically modified bananas which are a local staple food source to resist disease.
With Africa’s economy on the rise it’s only right that STI needs to play catch up, and 2015 is set to be great year for Africa, with many multinational organisations like the UN and the World Bank outlining ambitious plans to see the future development in Africa’s scientific innovations over the next decade. With more people and industries recognising the overall quantity and quality of up and coming African research in science, it’s no wonder these big international organisations want to get involved to secure Africa’s scientific and technological independence.
Although Health care and agriculture remain to be the priorities of scientific research and development across Africa, both of which are making remarkable discoveries, such as clinical trials in the treatment of diseases like HIV and malaria or developing strains of seeds that can withstand some of Africa’s harsh weather. There are also some exciting scientific developments happening from out of this world, with South Africa winning a bid to jointly build the world’s largest telescope, this cutting edge technology is only going to throw Africa’s STI further in to the spotlight.
