Africa's science diplomacy

Abstract

The scope of science diplomacy in Africa is constrained by a lack of cooperation at state levels and collaboration among research institutions and low investment in research, science and innovation. On human capital contribution to Science and Technology, only 2.3 percent of the global research community comes from Africa, and the continent contributes just about 2 percent of the global scientifc publications (Toure, 2018). Africa's contribution to the global scientifc knowledge is, therefore, minimal. According to Pouris and Pouris (2008), Africa produced 68,945 publications over the 2000-2004 period or 1.8% of the global publications. Research in Africa is concentrated in two countries i.e., South Africa and Egypt (Pouris & Pouris, 2008). These two countries produce just above 50% of the continent's publications (ibid.). As far as investment on Science and Technology is concerned, most countries in Africa are struggling to reach 1% allocation of their Gross Domestic Product to science, research, and innovation. This is the case, despite that global spending on science and the number of scientists has been rising in the past several years. This situation has been further worsened by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientifc and Cultural Organization) (Kigotho, 2021).