MINES and Mining Development secretary Francis Gudyanga has revealed that most countries in sub-Saharan Africa were lagging behind in technological developments, hence their poor economic performance and lack of competitiveness on the global markets.
by Own Correspondent
Speaking during the official opening of the International Research Conference at Chinhoyi University Hotel last week, Gudyanga said scientific and technological advancement allowed firms to produce quality products.
“Scientific and technological knowledge allows practical problems related to, for example, health, shelter, access to food and water, transportation and communication, to be solved for the betterment of humanity,” Gudyanga, who is a professor, said.
He said that although it was not possible to prove a direct causation between investment in science and technology and economic development, there was a clear relationship between a country’s economic well-being and its ranking as a technologically advanced nation.
“Neglect of Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) has created a critical gap between each country’s needs and its ability to meet them since only a few public resources have been allocated for the same and, as a result, the research base has declined or failed to grow,” Gudyanga said.
“Domestic graduate education for sciences and engineering has not developed fast enough and talented researchers have looked outside their countries for work, resulting in a considerable brain drain of talents. For example, the average number of scientists and engineers per million is 100 in sub-Saharan Africa, significantly below the average across North Africa and all developing countries,” he said.
He said other parts of the world had higher figures with more than 800 in Asia (excluding Japan), and over 1 100 in industrialised countries.
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“This contrast has the risk of further perpetuating the cycle of poverty and widening the economic and knowledge gaps between sub-Saharan Africa and the rest of the world,” he added.
Gudyanga said enrolment in basic sciences was minimum and the actual numbers of students in degree programmes generally classified as “science and engineering” was less than a quarter of the total tertiary enrolment.
“Africa is weak where it matters most — innovation and science capability for value addition.”
