The Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Vera Songwe, is of the opinion that an African Technology Development and Transfer Network should be created, in order to increase innovation and accelerate technological development in the continent.
Songwe spoke these words at the opening of the 4th African Science, Technology and Innovation Forum (STI), which took place last month in Kigali, Rwanda, considering that an African event on technology development and transfer could identify emerging technologies in Africa, as well as anticipating needs and encouraging knowledge sharing across the continent, as this would be at the heart of technology diffusion for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
"We need to build solid scientific, technological and innovation foundations to enable STI to deliver results. As we have witnessed recently, many of our countries needed support to develop capacities to test for Covid-19“, said the UNECA Executive Secretary.
For Vera Songwe, the collapse of global supply chains, Africa's over-reliance on imported medical equipment has left the continent vulnerable in many ways and forced to innovate.
To inform that the African Science, Technology and Innovation Forum (STI) is a multilateral collaborative event on science, technology and innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in line with Agenda 3030, as part of the Technology Facilitation Mechanism .
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This mechanism was established under the Addis Ababa action agenda and was launched by the 3030 Agenda to support the implementation of the SDGs and is organized by the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Science, Technology and Innovation for the SDGs .
In the opinion of Valentine Uwamariya, Minister of Education of Rwanda, the STI is a congregation of some of the best minds in Africa, and in which the continent can use science and technology to achieve its goals, that is, in less than a decade .
On the other hand, the UNESCO Regional Director for East Africa, Hubert Gijzen, emphasizes the importance of collaboration, where “we need cooperation between countries for Open Science. This is why UNESCO launched the First International Open Science Framework that 193 member states have endorsed,” he said.
This STI meeting takes place on the sidelines of the 8th African Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD8), which is an annual multi-stakeholder platform organized by ECA and the Government of Rwanda, in collaboration with the African Union Commission, the African Development Bank and other entities of the United Nations system.
