Biomedical Research in Developing Countries - UNICRI

This type of collaboration is still scarce but is growing in importance and its main
value is that it can provide a clearer perspective on Africa’s health priorities and on
the targets for research investment. South-South collaboration can also greatly help
to strengthen the academic and scientific environment that is currently extremely
inadequate and under-resourced in Africa 46 . New opportunities for South-South
collaboration are offered by the emerging economies of Brazil, China, India and
South Africa in the form of university scholarships and research collaboration
activities.
One of the commitment of the Algiers Declaration, to build centres of excellence at
the sub-regional level, is both welcome and challenging given the current situation
in Africa, that accounts for only five universities among the world’s top 500 (four
in South Africa and one in Egypt) 47 and only one National Foundation, the South
African National Research Foundation. In the recent years, a series of initiatives have
been taken to strengthen the capacity for science and technology innovation in
developing countries, and in particular Africa. At the 2007 African Union Summit
of 2007 in Ethiopia, 53 African leaders approved regional cooperation strategies for
the promotion of science and technology, with particular reference to biotechnology,
proclaiming 2007 the year of African scientific innovation 48 . African leaders pledged
money to increase investment in science and technology. Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda
Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi are among the countries that are currently making the
biggest efforts in investing more resources in this field. In 2006, Nigeria announced
plans to launch a science foundation with a US$5 billion endowment; in the same
year, Uganda received a US$25 million loan from the World Bank to support science
and technology, including the creation of centres of scientific excellence, based on
Uganda’s successful efforts to build its own capacity in public health and
agriculture. Developed countries are still the main investors into this promising
trend. The Report “Our Common Interest” prepared in 2005 by the Commission for
Africa, a UK initiative presented at the Gleneagles G8 summit 49 , calls on G8 countries
to provide US$5 billion to help rebuild Africa’s universities and an additional US$3
billion to help establish centres of scientific excellence in Africa. Even though the G8
member countries unanimously pledged to support these recommendations, to
date, only US$160 million has been authorized for the creation of networks of
centres of excellence proposed by NEPAD (the AU’s New Partnership for Africa’s
Development). The World Bank and several private foundations have supported
projects in developing countries for the training of young scientists.
46 Wagner C. S., Brahmakulam I., Jackson B., Wong A., Yoda T., Science and Technology Collaboration: Building
Capacity in Developing Countries?, RAND Corporation, March 2001
47 The Top 500 World Universities, Academic Ranking of Top World Universities 2007, Institute of Higher Education,
Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 2007
48 Hassan, M.H.A, Sunlight and shadows in the South, TWAS Newsletter, 2007, Vol. 19 No. 1
49 Commission for Africa, Out Common Interest, 11 May 2005
(http://www.commissionforafrica.org/english/report/introduction.html#report, accessed September 2008)
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