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Latest developments from the collaboration between Future Africa (FA) and the International Science Council (ISC).
Positive developments in African science
Longstanding efforts to build scientific capacity and develop African science systems are starting to yield positive outcomes. To illustrate this, Africa’s share of academic publication output has more than doubled from 1.5% in 2005 to 3.2% in 2016 and the citation impact of African-authored papers has been increasing steadily over the past 30 years from 0.48 in 1980 to 0.73% in 2014 [Source: African science: Better but still inadequate].
Furthermore, institution-building efforts such as the Science Granting Councils Initiative (SGCI) have been strengthened, and new multilateral funding partnerships have emerged, for example, the 20 collaborative research clusters of the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) and the Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities (The Guild). Within the context of these recent developments, there is also growing recognition of the transformative potential of African science in shaping global science agendas and addressing global challenges.
This is partly reflected in the steady increase of African “hubs” of international initiatives on the continent, for example, the UN Regional Hub for Big Data for Africa in Rwanda, the African Open Science Platform (AOSP), and the African Future Earth Global Secretariat Hub, both hosted by the National Research Foundation (NRF) in South Africa.
Existing challenges in African science
Despite these positive developments, persistent challenges still exist across the broader African science ecosystem. A large share of scientific outputs from the continent is mostly noticeable in “islands of excellence”, namely South Africa, Kenya, Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria, leaving the majority of the continent with weaker science systems [Source: Science output rising, but some countries’ yields still low]. Furthermore, despite the commitments of African governments to increase their gross domestic expenditure of R&D (GERD), most countries continue to spend less than 0.5% of their GDP on R&D, with the exception of a few countries in the Maghreb and South Africa, which spend 0.7 – 0.8% of GDP on R&D [Source: Research and development expenditure (% of GDP) – Sub-Saharan Africa].
As a result, the continent’s scientific communities continue to rely heavily on external funding. Whilst this has provided increased opportunities for African scientists to collaborate with their counterparts outside the continent, significant inequalities and asymmetries that tend to undermine the voice and visibility of African science have been recognized in these ‘North-South’ partnership arrangements.
Future Africa and ISC collaborative scoping and mapping project
The positive developments and persistent challenges in African science entail that it is imperative for the global science system to collaborate with the continent. As part of this process, Future Africa at the University of Pretoria and the International Science Council initiated a 2-year collaborative project to convene a consortium of partners to collaborate on leading a pan-African scoping and development process with the following objectives:
Main Outcome
A report and proposal to the ISC Governing Board will be provided by January 2025, to coincide with the ISC’s General Assembly/. The report will suggest recommendations on collaborative avenues to accelerate the development of African science and enhance its voice, visibility, and influence in the global arena. The report is also expected to provide recommendations on the ISC’s future role and institutional presence in Africa, as well as an envisioned and feasible implementation pathway.
Future Africa’s Strategy for Impact
Since the launch of the collaborative project, Future Africa has facilitated the establishment of a Steering Committee to provide strategic guidance to the scoping and mapping exercise, as well as an FA-ISC team to implement the process.
Steering Committee Overview
Members of the steering committee:
Dedicated Team
Since January 2023 Future Africa has established a dedicated FA-ISC Team led by a project coordinator, supported financially by the ISC. The FA-ISC team includes:
The FA-ISC team is currently engaging in the scoping and mapping exercise which includes:
Future Africa’s value proposition
Value proposition to the ISC
Value proposition to the ISC African members
A Call to Action: Your Involvement in African Science
How you can get involved:
Share your insights by 27 November: As part of this collaborative initiative, the project is conducting a consultative survey which we would like all stakeholders in the African science ecosystem to respond and share their insights. It will take you approximately 10-15 minutes to complete the survey. It’s critical to our meeting in December in South Africa on the margins of the South African Science Forum.
Stay informed
More updates on this project will be shared as we work together to shape the future of African science.