How can we ensure Africa wins more Nobel Prizes?

THIS is the season of Nobel Prizes and six awards were made these past two weeks in medicine, physics, chemistry, literature, peace and economics.

The bookies had been expecting Kenyan writer Ngugi wa Thiong’o to be among the winners, but he was not lucky this time.

Nobel Prizes, like life itself, have had their state of glory and state of horror. When that doyen of thinking, Albert Einstein, won the Nobel Prize it was a pinnacle of glory; when Chief Albert Luthuli, the first African to win the Nobel Prize, was announced, it was an apex of hope.

When Antonio Moniz won the Nobel Prize for a medical procedure called lobotomy, which was so dangerous that it incapacitated US President J F Kennedy’s sister, it was a low point for this prize.

When Chinua Achebe and Mahatma Gandhi were omitted for the coveted prize, these were signs that the triumph was not completely divorced from politics. When President Barack Obama was announced, for instance, he was so baffled that it is reported that he seriously considered not attending the award ceremony.

The Nobel Prize is a good marker for excellent achievement – if it is divorced from factional politicking, whether social, economic or political.

What has been a worrying trend of this prize is the near absence of Africans, Chinese and Indians who collectively constitute the majority of the world’s population. India alone, with a population of 1.2 billion people, has produced only seven Nobel Prizes, compared with 356 produced in the US and 465 by the EU.

China, with a population of 1.4 billion people, has produced only nine Nobel Prizes, which is less than the 12 produced by Israel, a country with only 8 million people. Africa, a continent with 1 billion people, has produced 22 Nobel Prizes, the majority of whom were awarded to South Africans with cultural and historical ties to Europe.

This is a state of affairs that needs to be changed, and soon. Progressive thinkers of the African continent ought to identify the reasons why Africa and Asia are not nearly adequately represented in the Nobel Prize leagues.

What does it take for one to win the Nobel Prize? One necessary condition for this is for one to have the economic means to pursue problems that are so difficult that one does not know the end state. Economic means are also important because to do work which is important, and often difficult, requires a well-educated mind and sophisticated infrastructure.

Another necessary condition to win the prize is the intellectual cultural capital, which entails an environment in which intellectualism is so embedded in society that even the ordinary person is conversant on matters of thought and scholarship.

To win this prize, there needs to be a culture that values innovation and shuns dogma. This way one is able to pursue all kinds of problems without the fear of being marginalised and ridiculed.

It has often been the case that Nobel Prizes are awarded to people who come from countries that hold regular elections.

Therefore, the dictum that states that “democracy is good for peace” can be extended to the admonition that “democracy is good for Nobel Prizes”. Nobel prizes also tend to be awarded to people who come from countries that value curiosity.

Why is Africa not winning Nobel Prizes, and what is to be done? Firstly, the continent needs to put excellent educational infrastructure into place, including universities.

According to the Times Higher Education University rankings, there is no single university from Africa in the top 100.

The only way this picture can be changed is to increase our investment into research and development.

South Africa invests 0.8% of its annual gross domestic product, a measure of wealth generated in the country, on research and development.

In order to raise this amount to a competitive level, we need to increase this to 1.5% in the short to medium term, and 3% in the long term.

Secondly, we need to create an intellectual culture in which reading and writing become embedded in the collective psyche of all class structures and demographics.

Our townships should have more book shops than shebeens. We need loyalties when he watches South Africa play Scotland.

He wears the kilt with a green Springbok top.

His correct title is: The Maclaine of Lochbuie (26th Chief of Clan Gillean of Lochbuie); Baron of Moy.

This has nothing to do with Mooi River. The name Drambuie I find less complicated.

Brave Blossoms

JAPAN were the heroes of the World Cup, winning three pool games, including that one against us, that threatened to derail the Boks. Had Scotland not beaten Samoa, they’d have been in the quarters

I’m told that some of their fans had a T-shirt.

On the front: 1941 Pearl Harbor. 1945 Hiroshima. On the back: 2015 – The Decider Well, we know what happened in that last pool game against USA.

Promenade

THE beachfront promenade is an absolute pleasure – level and plenty of space for strollers, cyclists, to cultivate the culture of writing, and our local government should drive this in conjunction with leaders from other sectors.

Thirdly, we need to encourage the culture of critical thinking, and to encourage our young ones not to abandon the culture of asking questions, no matter how trivial.

It is only from asking questions that innovative solutions to critical questions facing humanity will be unearthed.

If we do this, and more, we will be able to unleash the creative potential of our people, advance knowledge and help develop our economy.

Marwala is the deputy vice-chancellor of research, innovation, postgraduate studies and the library at the University of Johannesburg.

skateboarders and those hiring various modes of pedal-power.

Now the council say they’re going to extend it north to Umhlanga. Also around the Point and along the bayside to Wilson’s Wharf.

This becomes rather a long promenade, rivalling the Comrades Marathon route.

Packed

OVERHEARD in the Street Shelter for the Over-Forties: “My wife accused me of being a transvestite. So I packed her things and left.”

Tailpiece

THIS fellow goes into a florist’s shop. “I’d like some flowers please.”

“Certainly, sir. What do you have in mind?” “Er, I’m not sure.” “Perhaps I can help. What exactly is it that you’ve done?”

Last word

WHERE is human nature so weak as in the bookstore? – Henry Ward Beecher