Research in Africa rising
Inaugural conference identifies common research themes, strengthens panAfrican networks
Climate change, political instability, inequality, migration and the burden of disease are some of the major challenges confronting humanity today, and they require concomitant collaboration across ideological, geographical and scientific borders, so that holistic, lasting solutions can be developed to benefit society.
“Africa cannot be free if we do not adequately replicate in good measure the high-level skills and pioneering research required to foster inclusive development on the continent, while making a unique, valuable contribution to the global knowledge economy,” said Professor Ernest Aryeetey, secretary-general of the African Research Universities Alliance (Arua), at the inaugural conference of the alliance, which took place at the University of Ghana this week.
Aryeetey said: “This alliance aims to facilitate collaboration, knowledge transfer, equipment sharing, the pooling of resources and the development of mutually beneficial partnerships across Africa. Researchers in the developing world should not merely be regarded as data collection hubs, wellsprings of material waiting to be analysed, or footnotes in NorthSouth collaboration projects. Arua will strengthen the ability of researchers in Africa to be recognised as world-class generators and producers of new knowledge, capable of successfully accessing and managing resources and relationships in the global knowledge economy — off our own bat.”
The alliance comprises research intensive universities on the continent that prioritise the development of new knowledge, quality research and high-level, scarce skills through empowering and mentoring postgraduate and postdoctoral students. Thirteen key thematic areas for collaboration have been identified: climate change, food security, non-communicable diseases, materials development and nanotechnology, energy, water conservation, mobility and migration, poverty and inequality, unemployment and skills develthat opment, notions of identity, good governance, post-conflict societies, and urbanisation and habitable cities.
Professor Adam Habib, a member of the Arua executive committee and vice-chancellor and principal of the University of Witwatersrand, provided an update on two key projects that are underway. “The Migrations and Mobility theme is a great example of a universal issue requires research at multiple levels, and which is best addressed by cosmopolitan teams within different socioeconomic, political and historical contexts. A dynamic research project in this area has already been launched. The next project is focused on food security, another area that directly affects humanity the world over.”
He added: “The essential purpose of the conference was to gather the academics from our respective institutions on the continent to engage each other, in order to facilitate a common African academy and research community.”
The Carnegie Corporation of New York, Kresge, the Mellon Foundation and the South African National Research Foundation are all funding partners of Arua. “There are several other donors and funders, but these pioneering funding partners had the foresight to invest in the intellectual renaissance of the African continent,” said Habib. “Our collective efforts will result in raising the quantity and quality of impactful research on the continent, which will ultimately contribute towards inclusive development and the rising of Africa in multiple ways, for the benefit of humanity.”
‘Researchers in the developing world should not merely be regarded as data collection hubs’