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Higher education in Africa should focus on research and innovation efforts, towards solving the enormous and complex global challenges facing the continent, the Founder and Chairman of the African Network INC, a non-governmental organisation, Dr Kojo Appiah, has advised.
He said education and research should be tailored towards solving problems such as climate change, food insecurity and pandemics, confronting Africa.
Dr Appiah, who is also the RSC Member of the Africa Higher Education Centres of Excellence (ACE), cautioned that climate change would be more threatening to Africa due to drought, erratic rainfall and fires.
He was speaking at the end of a three-day conference on research and innovation in Africa, held in Accra.
It was organised by the Association of African Universities (AAU), and sponsored by the World Bank and Agence Francaise De Developpement (AFD) under the theme “Celebrating a Decade of Impact, Innovation and Excellence.”
The event was attended by at least 500 participants, including Vice Chancellors, researchers, policy makers and development partners, to identify strategies, share experiences and develop a roadmap for the future.
Dr Appiah said “African researchers should focus on competitive biology, artificial intelligence, advanced materials, drones, robotics, quantum computing, block chain, cloud computing among others”.
He called on ACE to foster stronger linkages and help grow the private sector.
The Minister of Education, Dr Clement Apaak, noted that the ACE’s contributions to strengthening post-graduate education and driving real-world impact in critical fields such as health, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics had been remarkable.
He said discussions on sustaining and scaling the impact of the ACE programme had been crucial.
Dr Apaak note that this engagement would inform collective effort, build upon the ACE successes and drive greater impact.
He stressed the need for increased investment in research and development, particularly in areas aligned with respective national priorities, and to scale up advanced training programmes, to meet the evolving demands of the respective African economies.
Dr Apaak said the ACE model should remain the forefront of research, innovation, and knowledge generation, to accelerate Africa’s economic transformation.
The Division Director for Ghana, Sierra and Liberia of the World Bank, Mr Robert Taliercio, said the investment in the ACE was one of the best effort the World Bank had made.
He said the bank was proud to be associated with the ACE programme, adding that ACE must lead the development of Africa through innovative research.
The Secretary-General of AAU, Prof. Olusola B. Oyewole, commended the participants for their active engagement.
He entreated ACE member countries to implement the suggestions and recommendations made to improve their economies.
