Africa must close its science and technology gap to take full advantage of the AfCFTA says Ameenah Gurib-Fakim at Afreximbank’s fifth annual Babacar Ndiaye Lecture | The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News

CAIRO, Egypt, 25 October 2021-/African Media Agency /- H.E. Professor Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, the former President of Mauritius and Laureate of the 2007 L’Oréal-UNESCO Prize for Women in Science, delivered a trenchant address at the African Export-Import Bank’s fifth annual Babacar Ndiaye Lecture on “the importance of science, technology and innovation in the transformation of African…

“How can a continent with the largest share of arable land, a continent with the youngest population, a continent that has fueled all of the world’s industrial revolution, a continent that has helped drive the mobile phone industry, a continent that is at the cusp of supporting the world’s energy transition to greener technology with a large store of rare earth deposits accept such dismal statistics?” she asked.

Professor Gurib-Fakim reminded the audience that the increasing role of technology that was permeating all sectors and industries and driving growth was irreversible. She praised Africa’s successes in certain areas like mobile money, giving the example of M-Pesa which has been adopted in the rest of Africa after being created in Kenya.

The President of the Bank further pointed out that “while the AfCFTA was a necessary condition for the transformation of African economies, it was not a sufficient one, especially in a world where trade has been largely driven by manufactured goods with increasing technological content.” Among the set of constraints undermining the capacity of the AfCFTA to deliver on its full potential none was as critical as closing the region’s scientific and technological gap.

Dr Hippolyte Fofack, Afreximbank’s Chief Economist, wrapped up the event by echoing Professor Oramah’s statements that “Africa was the epicentre of and the birthplace of astronomy and mathematics”. He referenced the Dogon community in Mali who for centuries has been fully aware of an invisible star, Sirius B, long before it was discovered by Western astronomers in 1970. “Africa’s current scientific and technological gap with the rest of the world was a historical anomaly”, he added.

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