UNESCO SCIENCE REPORT

West Africa
The main research structures are the Centre for Scientific and
Technical Research, National Institute of Agricultural Research,
National Institute for Training and Research in Education,
Office of Geological and Mining Research and the Centre for
Entomological Research. The University of Abomey-Calavi also
deserves mention for having been selected by the World Bank
as a centre of excellence in applied mathematics (Table 18.1).
The main challenges facing R&D in Benin are the:
n unfavourable organizational framework for R&D: weak
governance, a lack of co-operation between research
structures and the absence of an official document on the
status of researchers;
n inadequate use of human resources and the lack of any
motivational policy for researchers; and the
n mismatch between R&D and development needs.
BURKINA FASO
S&T have become a development priority
Since 2011, Burkina Faso has clearly made S&T
a development priority. The first sign was the creation of
the Ministry of Scientific Research and Innovation in January
2011. Up until then, management of STI had fallen under the
Department of Secondary and Higher Education and Scientific
Research. Within this ministry, the Directorate General for
Research and Sector Statistics is responsible for planning. A
separate body, the Directorate General of Scientific Research,
Technology and Innovation, co-ordinates research. This is
a departure from the pattern in many other West African
countries where a single body fulfils both functions.
In 2012, Burkina Faso adopted a National Policy for Scientific
and Technical Research, the strategic objectives of which are
to develop R&D and the application and commercialization
of research results. The policy also makes provisions for
strengthening the ministry’s strategic and operational capacities.
One of the key priorities is to improve food security and
self-sufficiency by boosting capacity in agricultural and
environmental sciences. The creation of a centre of excellence
at the International Institute of Water and Environmental
Engineering (2iE) in Ouagadougou within a World Bank
project (Table 18.1) provides essential funding for capacitybuilding
in these priority areas. Burkina Faso also hosts the
African Biosafety Network of Expertise (Box 18.1).
A dual priority is to promote innovative, effective and
accessible health systems; the growing number of doctoral
candidates in medicine and related fields is a step in the right
direction (Figure 18.3). The government wishes to develop,
in parallel, applied sciences and technology and social and
human sciences. To complement the national research
policy, the government has prepared a National Strategy to
Popularize Technologies, Inventions and Innovations (2012) and
a National Innovation Strategy (2014).
Other policies also incorporate science and technology, such as
that on Secondary and Higher Education and Scientific Research
(2010), the National Policy on Food and Nutrition Security (2014)
and the National Programme for the Rural Sector (2011).
In 2013, Burkina Faso passed the Science, Technology and
Innovation Act establishing three mechanisms for financing
research and innovation, a clear indication of high-level
commitment. These mechanisms are the National Fund for
Education and Research, the National Fund for Research and
Innovation for Development and the Forum of Scientific
Research and Technological Innovation 7 . The creation of national
funds for R&D is one of the recommendations of ECOPOST.
The other most important actors are the National Centre
for Scientific and Technological Research, Institute for
Environment and Agricultural Research, National Agency for
Biodiversity, National Council for Phytogenetic Resources
Management and the Technical Secretariat for Atomic Energy.
Responsibility for technology transfer and the popularization
of research results falls to the National Agency for the
Promotion of Research Results and the National Centre for
Scientific and Technological Research.
Burkina Faso faces a number of challenges in developing R&D:
n a small pool of researchers: 48 per million population in 2010;
n a lack of research funding,
n outdated research facilities,
n poor access to information and internet: 4.4% of the
population in 2013;
n an insufficient utilization of research results; and
n brain drain.
Before he passed away in December 2013, Nelson Mandela,
a champion of education, lent his name to two graduate
universities entrusted with the mission of producing a
new generation of Africa-focused researchers, the African
Institutes of Science and Technology in Tanzania and Nigeria.
A third is planned for Burkina Faso.
7. Funding comes from the national budget and various annual subsidies: 0.2% of
tax revenue, 1% of mining revenue and 1% of the revenue from operating mobile
phone licenses. The funds also benefit from royalties on sales from the results of
research and the patent license agreement concerning inventions funded by the
public purse.
Chapter 18
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