Image: Grace Gay for Research Professional News
South Africa’s G20 presidency and a mid-year UN meeting present opportunities for funding
If Africa fails to advance its science, technology and innovation spending this year, it will not be for want of opportunities.
Two events stand out as likely to set the tone for the continent’s R&D ambitions: South Africa’s 12-month presidency of the G20, leading up to a summit in Johannesburg late in the year, and a UN development financing meeting scheduled for the middle of the year in Spain.
G20 science aims
South Africa has outlined three science and technology priorities for the G20. The first centres on open innovation for development, and includes goals such as creating a demonstrator project specifically targeting disaster risk reduction.
The second priority focuses on biodiversity information and aims to advance cataloguing efforts of wildlife, leveraging South Africa’s own biodiversity richness to contribute to global scientific understanding.
The third priority emphasises diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in scientific endeavours. South Africa intends to organise events that bring together traditionally underrepresented groups, including youth, indigenous knowledge holders, women and girls, and African science leaders.
South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa has vowed to use the G20 presidency to “place the needs of ‘and the rest of the global south more firmly on the international development agenda”. He will also look to science diplomacy as a tool to bridge geopolitical divisions currently causing tension in the group.
Science for development
But the G20 is not the only opportunity of 2025, a year that marks two decades since the Commission for Africa, launched by former UK prime minister Tony Blair in 2004 to propose solutions for Africa’s challenges, published its report Our Common Interest.
The report was notable for its emphasis on science and technology as vital drivers for Africa’s development.
Since then, Africa has adopted consecutive plans to boost science and innovation for development. But progress on the ground has been slow. While international funding for science programmes on the continent has grown, local financing and ownership have lagged. The Commission for Africa’s grand ambition of raising billions of US dollars for science and higher education remains unfulfilled.
A second opportunity could emerge halfway through the year, when the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development takes place from 30 June to 3 July in Seville, Spain. The UN-supported event is set to gather heads of state and ministers, with organisers aiming for discussions to include a programme on science and technology.
The G20 summit and the Seville conference offer Africa concrete chances to advance its scientific agenda. African policymakers should bear them in mind as they draw up an implementation plan for the African Union’s second 10-year plan for science, technology and innovation, due to be adopted by heads of state next month.
