Our Harvard KSG colleague Calestous Juma spots
Science in Africa: The view from the front line in
Nature News about the state of affairs and challenges facing African researchers...
"Many labs are poorly equipped, and science students get little practical research training because research centres are often separate from universities. Financial and logistical support for science is typically divided between many ministries with little coordination, and some states rely too much on intermittent foreign funding. Even when research is successful, it is hard to push developments to the marketplace. And poor governance -- from corruption to ineffective bureaucracy -- stymies progress in many nations. Despite these hurdles, some African nations can point to notable achievements, in individual institutes and in areas of research. They will need to build on these advances if they are to have any hope of tackling the problems facing Africa today, such as poverty, rampant infectious diseases, the impacts of climate change and the lack of clean water and energy. [...] science and technology leaders say that they are trying to develop and sustain capacity in the research that can most help their nations to develop. [Plus it's key to] reverse the brain drain that is robbing Africa of many leading scientists and engineers."
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