In the media - 2006

• Africa invited in first Framework 7 call bonanza
  19 December 2006, Research Africa
  African researchers should keep their eyes open for funding opportunities when the first round of calls for the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (Framework 7) are announced later this month.
  
  
• Cairo contribution to science summit 'weak'
  19 December 2006, Research Africa
  African science ministers returned from Cairo last month having failed to agree on a strong set of recommendations to put to presidents meeting in Addis Ababa next month.
  
  
• Ministers propose 2007 as 'year of science' in Africa
  1 December 2006, SciDev.net
  African science ministers have chosen proposals that will be presented at the African Union summit to promote science on the continent.
  
  
• Scientists push open access for developing nations
  29 November 2006, SciDev.net
  Scientists have created a draft national policy that they hope will promote open access if adopted in developing countries.
  
  
• Science and innovation facility takes shape
  21 November 2006, Research Africa
  Crunch time for ASIF as science ministers set summit agenda
  Africa could have a continent-wide science funding and advisory agency in just over six months’ time. That is if the proposal for an African Science and Innovation Facility passes muster at the science ministerial in Cairo this week.
  
  
• A truly African solution
  21 November 2006, Research Africa
  Having taught at African schools, technical colleges and universities for 25 years, Xavier Carelse is realising his dream of stocking labs on the continent with low-cost science equipment.
  
  
• 'Boost basic science projects', say African scientists
  20 November 2006, SciDev.net
  African scientists have urged leaders to carry out 'basic science' initiatives that solve everyday problems and improve the lives of Africa's poor.
  
  
• African academies urge politicians not to ignore them
  20 November 2006, SciDev.net
  African science academies call for governments to include them in improving and assessing policy decisions, particularly in the run-up to the AU summit.
  
  
• Infrastructure development key to unlocking growth in Africa, says World Bank study
  10 November 2006, Engineering News
  Boosting economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa was dependent, to a large extent, on expanding infrastructure investments, improving the investment climate, harnessing skills for innovation and building institutional capacity across the continent, a World Bank study released in Tokyo argues.
  
  
• AU congress suggests how to boost African science
  2 November 2006, SciDev.net
  African scientists and politicians have proposed a wide range of measures to boost science and technology on the continent, ranging from more flexible visa laws for greater mobility of scientists, to the creation of a continent-wide scientific advisory committee.
  
  
• Key issues for the African Union summit
  25 October 2006, SciDev.net
  Last month, SciDev.Net launched an email discussion group to ensure that the views of African scientists, policymakers, science communicators, research funders and investors are heard in the run-up to the January 2007 African Union summit. They discussed the role of science, technology and innovation in the continent's development. Read the mid-way report.
  
  
• Engineer of change: commissioning science for Africa
  25 October 2006, SciDev.net
  Nadia Essayed has a challenging task: to develop and harmonise Africa's policy on science and technology. Originally an engineering professor from Libya, she was elected in 2004 as the African Union's commissioner for human resources, science and technology, based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
  
  
• Where do scientists fit into Africa's science plans?
  25 October 2006, SciDev.net
  Defining an appropriate policy-making role for Africa's scientific community requires a careful balance between 'science push' and 'demand pull'.
  
  
• Teaching sustainability
  24 October 2006, Research Africa
  African University Day next month will focus on education for sustainable development. But what does it really mean, and how do you achieve it, asks Akpezi Ogbuigwe.
  
  
• Kagame makes Rwanda’s pitch for leadership
  24 October 2006, Research Africa
  Rwanda - small and riven by genocide just a decade ago - is stepping up efforts to position itself as a frontrunner in science and technology in Africa. Romain Murenzi, the science minister, told Research Africa last week that that the country’s government intends to increase spending on science by 3 to 5 percent a year over the next five years.
  
  
• Boost to NEPAD science from the Gates Foundation
  18 October 2006, SciDev.net
  A US$600,000 grant to the science and technology office of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) will help improve the advice it gives to the African Union and the African Ministerial Council on Science and Technology.
  
  
• Central African states to enact science plan
  3 October 2006, SciDev.net
  Science ministers from Central African nations have pledged to implement an Africa-wide plan to boost scientific development.
  
  
• Africa-wide facility to fund science takes shape
  26 September 2006, SciDev.net
  Options for designing a facility for funding African research will be presented to the continent's science ministers next month.
  
  
• Rwandan president calls for action on African science
  19 September 2006, SciDev.net
  Rwanda's president says African leaders who say they support science as a tool for development must now put their words into action.
  
  
• Kenyan forum to open up biotech debate
  19 September 2006, SciDev.net
  A Kenya-based organisation has set up a forum to host public discussions about how biotechnology can improve agriculture.
  
  
• Push to link South science with politics
  20 September 2006, Research Africa
  A new route for linking developing country science to developing country politics was announced at a South-South summit of science ministers this month. The Consortium on Science, Technology and Innovation for the South (Costis) will give decision makers in developing nations direct access to scientific know-how produced in the global south.
  
  
• Opening access
  20 September 2006, Research Africa
  As the continent prepares to spread its R&D wings, it's clear we don't know everything about the point of departure. What is good African science, how much of it is there and who is taking any notice?
  
  
• African S&T: lessons learnt from previous summits
  14 September 2006, SciDev.net
  Next year's African Union summit on science and technology is a real opportunity, says Alex Tindimubona, but leaders must debate openly and listen to the research community.
  
  
• Funding African science – an invitation for ideas
  5 September 2006, SciDev.net
  Building an effective and accountable way to fund science and technology across Africa is a major challenge facing the region’s leaders and scientific communities. You are invited to join the debate.
  
  
• Regionalising biotech - threat or solution?
  22 August 2006, Research Africa
  Nepad and Juma panel unite against critical stakeholders.
  
  
• Diasporas of hope
  22 August 2006, Research Africa
  Talented scientists living in Africa's 'sixth region' are an untapped resource, says Fred Oladeinde
  
  
• Beyond Gleneagles
  22 August 2006, Research Africa
  After pushing the issue on the international political scene in 2005, is the UK government taking a break on Africa's development? No, and supporting science is among its top priorities, explains Sir David King.
  
  
• Comments sought on African science funding body
  14 August 2006, SciDev.net
  African scientists, politicians, and policy advisors are being asked to make suggestions on the design of a proposed mechanism for funding regional research facilities across the continent.
  
  
• Malawi: president takes charge of science
  10 August 2006, SciDev.net
  In an effort to boost innovation, the president of Malawi has brought the Department of Science and Technology directly under his authority.
  
  
• Researchers outline recipe for African rice revolution
  9 August 2006, SciDev.net
  Policy analysts and researchers at a meeting in Tanzania have outlined their vision of a "rice-based green revolution" for Africa.
  
  
• Biotech can propel Continent
  7 August 2006, East African Business Week
  A report released to delegates attending the AU/NEPAD high-level panel on modern biotechnology conference in Nairobi in the just ended month of July says that advances in the life sciences field are taking place in parallel with other technologies.
  
  
• Nigerian oil riches: a huge boost for African science
  4 August 2006, SciDev.net
  Nigeria's vast oil revenues will go some way towards boosting the country's prowess in science and technology.
  
  
• Fund to boost agriculture research in Africa and Asia
  28 July 2006, SciDev.net
  The United Kingdom has launched a US$11 million fund to promote research into sustainable agriculture in developing countries.
  
  
• Panel discusses biotech for African development
  28 July 2006, SciDev.net
  Researchers and policymakers met in Kenya this week to discuss a draft report on how biotechnology could contribute to Africa's development.
  
  
• Science in Zambian development plan for first time
  26 July 2006, SciDev.net
  The Zambian government has published the first national development plan to include a chapter on science and technology.
  
  
• UK aid agency doubles funding for scientific research
  14 July 2006, SciDev.net
  The UK government's overseas aid agency has pledged to double its funding for science and technology research by 2010, with a focus on achieving progress towards the UN Millennium Development Goals.
  
  
• Breaking the silence on developing-world science
  14 July 2006, SciDev.net
  Is any science going on in developing countries? Take Africa. Considering the level of research activity on the continent — in biomedicine, climate change and the environment, for instance — the answer should be yes. But with a few exceptions, the world rarely hears of research from and for Africa.
  
  
• Brazil will share expertise in agriculture with Africa
  14 July 2006, SciDev.net
  African nations are set to benefit from Brazilian expertise in tropical agriculture thanks to an agreement between Brazil and Ghana.
  
  
• Science and Technology Ministers meet ahead of SADC summit
  7 July 2006, Engineering News
  Ministers of Science and Technology in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are meeting in Pretoria to prepare for the regional summit taking place in Lesotho next month.
  
  
• Physics in South Africa: long road to freedom
  7 July 2006, SciDev.net
  South Africa's physics institute has mirrored the country's move from apartheid to liberation, and is now working hard to attract fresh talent.
  
  
• Leaders Want Nepad, AU Integrated
  4 July 2006, AllAfrica.com
  African leaders who were meeting in Banjul, The Gambia, say efforts would be deployed to integrate the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) into the African Union.
  
  
• African action plan pushes satellites for development
  4 July 2006, SciDev.net
  Scientists from 17 countries in sub-Saharan Africa have come up with a plan of action for applying satellite technology to a wide range of development issues.
  
  
• Boost for Tunisian science and universities
  28 June 2006, SciDev.net
  Tunisia has unveiled a strategy for scientific development and had a US$76 million loan for modernising its higher education sector approved by the World Bank.
  
  
• SA private sector urged to help solve ills
  27 June 2006, IOL
  ... President Thabo Mbeki's work in bringing stability to African regions through South Africans' efforts as peace negotiators and architects of regional bodies like the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad) should be seen as the groundwork for investing in the continent ...
  
  
• EU and Egypt adopt joint science and technology action plan
  22 June 2006, EUbusiness
  The EU and Egypt have adopted a joint science and technology (S&T) action plan, to increase the participation of Egyptian researchers in the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), as well as maximise coordination between EU researchers.
  
  
• Fertilisers 'key to food crisis in Africa', says summit
  13 June 2006, SciDev.net
  Researchers at the Africa Fertilizer Summit held in Abuja from 9-13 June hope better access to fertiliser will help solve food shortages in Africa.
  
  
• Europe seeks African partners for water research
  12 June 2006, SciDev.net
  The European Commission launched a website to help African scientists take part in water research funded by the European Union.
  
  
• Africa 'is able to compete with China, India'
  1 June 2006, IOL
  By developing Africa's comparative economic advantage, the continent stood to gain and even compete with emerging giants China and India, delegates at the World Economic Forum heard on Thursday.
  
  
• Forum set to take stock of Africa's economy
  29 May 2006, IOL
  The annual World Economic Forum on Africa opening in Cape Town on Wednesday will take stock of Africa's strongest growth in three decades and the impact of China and India on the continent.
  
  
• Minister calls on world to clinch science-and-technology partnerships with Africa
  8 May 2006, Engineering News
  Africa was currently generating only a per cent of global new knowledge and Science and Technology Minister Mosibudi Magena said on Monday that the continent needed international strategic partnerships to connect to the 99% of the international new knowledge-generation activities.
  
  
• Nepad boosts youth ICT participation
  11 April 2006, ITWeb
  The Nepad e-Africa Commission, the Department of Communications and the Presidential National Commission have convened a meeting of young "e-cadres" to establish the Nepad Youth ICT Programme.
  
  
• Head of African Union attacks 'brain trade'
  5 April 2006, SciDev.Net
  The president of the African Union has attacked the 'selective immigration' policies of developed countries that draw scientists and other skilled workers away from developing countries.
  
  
• African countries vow to exploit hydropower prospects
  9 March 2006, Engineering News
  African countries have pledged to spare no time and effort in exploiting the potential of hydropower to increase the power needs of the continent.
  
  
• Network to support African biotech research, policy
  8 March 2006, SciDev.Net
  The UN Food and Agriculture Organization will launch an online network this month to boost biotechnology research and policy development in Africa.
  
  
• Hydropower promises for Africa
  6 March 2006, News24
  Continental ministers of energy and water affairs were to co-operate at a conference on developing hydropower's potential to provide affordable energy to Africans.
  
  
• EU to open projects to developing country scientists
  3 March 2006, SciDev.Net
  The European Commission (EC) is providing 20 million euros (US$24 million) to allow scientists in developing countries to join existing European projects.
  
  
• 'Satan's Drink' and a Sorry History of Global Food Fights
  9 February 2006, Financial Times
  In a long-awaited decision, the World Trade Organisation has ruled that the European Union's moratorium on approving genetically modified foods imposed in 1998 violated international trade rules.
  
  
• African science must regain control of local resources
  1 February 2006, SciDev.Net
  Kazhila Chinsembu says Africa risks being 'enslaved' by technology it doesn't own and urges African nations to regain control over their biological resources and indigenous knowledge.
  
  
• Physics has a key role in development
  16 January 2006, SciDev.Net
  Romain Murenzi, Rwanda's science minister, highlights the contributions that physics can make to economic development.