Continental platform to accelerate science excellence

The Alliance for Accelerating Excellence in Science in Africa, or AESA, has started operations and there are plans to run funding grants before the end of the year. AESA is a pan-African platform to source funding for science and health research, created by the African Academy of Sciences and the New Partnership for Africa's Development agency.

The African Union, or AU, recently endorsed the establishment of the platform, which is aimed at identifying challenges that hamper rapid scientific advancement on the continent, during the 24th AU Heads of State and Government Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

According to Professor Berhanu Abegaz, executive director of the African Academy of Sciences, discussions on the creation of AESA began last year. Now operations have started, with AESA offices set up at the academy’s headquarters in Nairobi, and with a director of the platform and key senior staff recruited after interviews in February.

Kevin Marsh, a professor of tropical medicine at the University of Oxford who has been based in Kenya as director of the KEMRI Wellcome Trust Research Programme until August 2014, was appointed as senior advisor to AESA.

Purpose of the platform

“Notable challenges that hinder rapid scientific advancement in Africa include low funds for research despite the sustained and arguably rising availability of funds over the years from major funders,” Abegaz told University World News.

Based on various resolutions by the AU, a leap to 1% of gross domestic product spending on research is required to foster science, technology and innovation or STI growth – but only a few African countries have approached this target.

He said that despite government acknowledgments of the need to support research, investments in R&D in Africa amount to only 0.42% of global investment.

Abegaz said that lack of research infrastructure and resources continues to lead to brain drain – the average loss of about 20,000 professionals a year since 1990 – which prevents the translation of scientific discoveries into solutions to numerous challenges faced by Africans.

“This pan-African platform offers a sustainable funding platform for supporting African scientists and their institutions in research leadership, scientific excellence and innovation which impacts on global health and development,” he said.

The platform will actively manage grants, and evaluate and measure the impact of such investments.

Recognising that more than 60% of Africa’s population is youthful, the platform will develop youth-centred programmes such as early and mid-career fellowships that will inspire young people and engage them to contribute, intellectually and practically, to critical areas of STI for Africa’s development.

The priority area for AESA will initially be health research, and later there will be expansion to other areas such as food and nutrition, energy and the environment. The platform hopes to engage with:

• • Policy-makers and donors to help them make better-informed decisions in bringing about the integration and development of the continent.
  
• • Africa’s best minds who will be fully engaged and supported in finding solutions to the problems of the continent.
  
• • All stakeholders so that better-informed decisions are made that will improve the efficiency and impact of Africa’s research and development systems and ultimately enhance productivity and growth on the continent.

Agenda for 2015

Abegaz said that in the short term AESA will focus on three areas – building capacity to become an implementation partner for global programmes focused on fostering research excellence in Africa; developing strategies for carrying out think-tank functions and the STI agenda; and starting to engage African governments, businesses and philanthropists to build a strong base for mobilising resources for African STI programmes.

He said there would be a formal launch of AESA in Johannesburg in June 2015.

“We are partners with Wellcome Trust in implementation of the DELTAS programme – a major programme that will support African scientists to develop training leadership and scientific capacities in well-funded collaborative research hubs across the continent.”

AESA will hold a first training workshop on grant proposal writing in July in Addis Ababa, for early career scientists and researchers, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in preparation for future grant calls from various global funders including BMGF.

Abegaz said the workshop – and subsequent ones – would aim to address Africa’s low production of scientific knowledge, which is currently only 1.1% of global knowledge.

“Very few African universities are among the top 500 worldwide. Africa has only 35 scientists and engineers per million inhabitants, compared with 168 for Brazil, 2,457 for Europe and 4,103 for the United States.

“Despite a rising number of universities on the continent, gaps in knowledge on writing winning research grant proposals exist and the platform aims to address this,” he said.

Backing for the platform

Abegaz said the academy expects generous funding to award grants, from African sources as well as external partners including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Wellcome Trust, and the UK Department for International Development. The plan was to start awarding grants towards the end of this year.

“Although we do not have actual figures we expect very generous funds of CAD50 million to be given as research grants over the next five years,” he said.

Dr Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, chief executive officer of NEPAD, said that as the implementing arm of the African Union they were committed to working with African institutions in applying science, technology and innovation to tackle Africa’s challenges in health. He welcomed the opportunity to tap expertise from the African Academy of Sciences to establish AESA.

Simon Kay, head of international operations at the Wellcome Trust, said in a statement: “By shifting the centre of gravity for leadership on Africa’s scientific challenges to Africa itself, and working with our funding partners, we expect the African Academy of Sciences to become the 'go-to' place for managing and catalysing Africa’s scientific programmes.”