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Volume 13, Issue 3, July- September 2024
CONTENT
Chair's Foreword
Review of APET Working Paper
Earth Science Events
References and selected reading
Chair's Foreword*
In this issue we critically review the African Union Working paper on Emerging Technologies (APET)[1]. In some ways it is a welcome report. The continent is obviously in need of policies that can be implemented to drive an acceleration of science, technology and innovation developments. However, it is not clear that this report can adequately guide such developments on its own without comment, or review to help the reader. Hopefully this critical review can enable the reader to discern some of the most valuable information and research that it offers.
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REVIEW OF THE AFRICAN
UNION WORKING PAPER
ON
EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES
(APET)
Strengthening the technology and innovation capabilities of African countries is critical to achieving the African Union Agenda 2063 [2] and the UN Sustainable Development Goals[3], which more or less universally are agreed will benefit African socio-economic development and therefore there has been a concerted drive to focus on the improvement of African human resources capacity towards science and technology and innovation skills.
The APET report encourages efforts to broaden and mobilise participation of African citizens possessing the requisite scientific skills that can address Africa's current challenges; from Sustainable Development to climate change mitigation and disaster recovery and aversion.
The report suggests that enhancing a culture of science among African citizens will lead to science, technology and innovation (STI) progress and formulation. The APET report holds that African led scientific findings and a culture of scientific thinking can benefit the society by nurturing scientific innovation. The report holds that enabling and supporting a scientific culture in Africa will give rise to a strong foundation for socio-economic development and growth on the continent. The APET Working Paper Report recognises with the rapid progress seen in information technology, that without scientific advancement the continent will lag "socio-economically" far behind the rest of the world.
In its analysis of science culture in Africa the report has noted that indigenous knowledge and innovation history informs us that African peoples have always possessed a scientific culture; but due to widespread ignorance of its history it has been assumed that African scientific culture is non-existent. Several reports cited by the APET study demonstrate to us that Africans have always been at the forefront of important scientific developments, with the advent of the sciences of mathematics, metallurgy, astronomy, stratigraphy, medicine and surgery, and many other examples on the African continent which the report documents.
Perhaps controversially, the report does claim that African traditional beliefs such as the concept of personal immortality (where for instance immortality is guaranteed by having offspring to retain the memory of deceased parents/ancestors) impede socio-economic and scientific progress; since it encourages overpopulation. However, this would appear to be a narrow view of African beliefs and their impact on societal outcomes. Furthermore, it has never been established scientifically that Africa is an overpopulated continent, beyond mere popular mythology and hearsay that is often parroted and suggested without inspection of the facts. For a fact we know that the combined populations of USA, Mexico, China, Iberian Peninsula, Western Europe, Japan, India and UK total 3.796 billions compared with Africa's 1.38 billions; whilst the land area of these combined countries totals just 27.02 million sq. km compared with Africa's 30.8 million sq km. So this often repeated assertion of African overpopulation is patently false. Yet even the African Union paper suggests this falsehood without inspection of the facts.
The APET report goes on to chart Africa's historic capacity in STI, noting its role in the early developments in
- chemistry and metallurgy [4]
- mathematics and geometry [5]
- medicine and surgery [6]
It has been observed by earlier reports - for example, in the study of land and soil conservation practices in Africa - that western science and technology is often superimposed in a bid to eradicate indigenous African science and technology. A thirty-two year old study of soil and water conservation in Africa [7] notes how modern western soil and water conservation solutions are often imposed on top of indigenous African systems that have existed for thousands of years. These include ancient terracing systems and systems of land management such as shifting cultivation and multi-cropping as opposed to mono-cropping which have served in modern times to deplete the soil quality in terms of material loss and fertility loss.
The report concludes with some recommendations. These include making the curriculum in Science in schools relevant to African peoples needs and realities. African governments should provide the infrastructure (e.g., technology hubs, etc) to enable a scientific culture. Also significant, in the papers conclusion, are the observations of numerous modern frameworks that now exist to guide development. These include and are not limited to: AU Agenda 2063, Science Agenda 2030, Leading Integrated Research for Agenda 2030 (LIRA 2030) and Alliance for Advancing Excellence in Science in Africa (AESA).
Finally, the report is rightly critical at the government level and continental level of how African governments are often content to import foreign solutions to address African problems rather than encouraging indigenous solutions through intra-African collaboration. Furthermore, the report rightly notes too few Africans in decision-making positions showing sufficient interest in embracing the role of science and technology in African development.
A recent and stark example of this cited failure includes the decision-making body of the African Union itself in the ongoing case of the Great Green Wall project. This grand project aims to halt the further southward encroachment of the Sahara desert and revitalise degraded landscapes across the 8,000 mile Sahelian belt of Africa, crossing some 21 countries in the process. It is an example on a grand scale, of how our African decision-makers can display lack of creativity and political will in seeking and encouraging intra-African solutions, and collaboration leading to formulation of African solutions to African problems rather than waiting for investments and solutions to be offered from abroad by foreign governments and institutions. This most definitely needs to change if African development is to be spurred on by indigenous African science, technology and innovation.
Earth Science Events
October 6-9, 2024
XVIII African Regional Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering
VISION: https://algeos-dz.com/18ARC.html
VENUE: Hammamet, Tunisia
6 January 2025
International Conference on Environmental Meteorology and Pollution
VENUE: Abuja, Nigeria
10 February 2025
International Conference on Environmental Chemistry and Engineering
VENUE: Suez, Egypt
19 February 2025
International Conference on Soil Productivity and Quality
VENUE: Alexandria, Egypt
26 February 2025
World Congress on Soil and Water Sciences
VENUE: Giza, Egypt
21-22 May 2025
ESG Climate Africa Summit
VENUE: Nairobi, Kenya
August18–21, 2025
VISION: We are excited to announce the TC/ESG25 Conference, a collaboration between the Transformations Community, the Earth System Governance Project (ESG), and Wits University.
VENUE: Johann & Krugee National Park, South Africa
References
[1] African Union High Level Panel on Emerging Technologies[APET], Working Paper Series 1, African Union Development Agency, November 2021.
[2] Agenda 2063, The Africa We Want, Framework Document, African Union, September 2015.
[3] Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, UNDP, 2015.
[4] New York Times (South African edition), 8 February, 1979. See also Debra Shore, Steel-Making in Ancient Africa in Black's in Science ancient and modern, I. Van Sertima (ed.), Transaction Books, New Brunswick and London, 1985, pp.157-175.
[5] Kamalu, Chukwunyere, THE ISHANGO BONE: The World's First Known Mathematical Sieve and Table of the Small Prime Numbers, Society of African Earth Scientists, AfricArXiv. February 28, 2021. doi:10.31730/osf.io/6z2yr. See also Diop, C.A., Civilization or Barbarism, Lawrence Hill Books, 1991. pp.231-243.
[6] Finch, Charles S., African Background to Medical Science, in Black's in Science ancient and modern, I. Van Sertima (ed.), Transaction Books, New Brunswick and London, 1985, pp. 157-175.
[7] Soil and Water Conservation in Sub-saharan Africa, International Fund for Agricultural Development, Rome, 1992.
*Board of the Society of African Earth Scientists: Dr Enas Ahmed (Egypt), Osmin Callis (Secretary - Guyana/Nigeria), Mathada Humphrey (South Africa), Ndivhuwo Cecilia Mukosi (South Africa), Damola Nadi (Nigeria), Dr Chukwunyere Kamalu (Chair - Nigeria).
