Science and technology festivals critical to Africa’s development

Lazarus Sauti

Professor Justin Jonas of the Square Kilometer Array (a collaborative international radio telescope project involving eight sub-Saharan African nations, as well as countries around the world), once said: “Africa has reached a stage of development where it has become a destination for doing world class science – a place that has individuals, facilities and institutions that attract scientists from around the world to work on the continent.”

Professor Jonas is right and for the continent to realise and efficiently benefit from its progression, political leaders and science and technology gurus in Africa must take science and technology festivals seriously.   

A science and technology festival is an event that showcases science and technology with the same freshness and flair that would be expected from an arts or music festival.

The festival can include events such as lectures, exhibitions, workshops, live demonstrations of experiments, guided tours and panel discussions as well as events linking science to the arts or history, such as plays, dramatised readings and musical productions.

From Jonas assertions, scientists from across the African continent and around the world should “come together and consider the state of science and technology” if the continent is to achieve its developmental goals.

For this to happen, countries within and across the continent should take science festivals seriously. These festivals should be fertile grounds where progressive projects and programmes to do with science and technology should be discussed.

Prioritising science and technology festivals is also crucial if the continent is to fund and control Africa’s research agenda’s. Our society relies more on science and technology every day. Accordingly, science and technology festivals can be great ways for students to become more knowledgeable about how the world around them works.

Every citizen needs sufficient science literacy to make educated decisions about what he or she reads in the media, about health care, and about other every-day problems. To impart science and technology information to citizens, funding is of paramount importance.

Sadly, the majority of science and technology funding is coming from outside the continent. Therefore, African states should move away from the old reliance on outside funding. The time is now for the continent to look inside not west or east for ideas and funding of African projects.

Countries in Africa must use their resources to fund science and technological festivals and they should embrace these festivals as an important catalyst to the total emancipation of the continent.

Funding science and technology festivals, projects and programmes can also enable the continent to come up with ‘grass roots approaches’ that can easily transform the social, political, cultural and economic affairs of countries in the African continent.

African science and technology should meet the needs of the continent - that is to solve Africa’s problems. African science and technology should also be used to drive the sustainable growth of the continent.

To effectively embrace science and technology festivals; to successfully meet and consider the state of science and technology on the continent, scientists and technologists in African countries need to be pragmatic.

They should use their knowledge, ingenuity, willingness to learn and adapt and they should take advantage of the digital technologies.

Scientists and technologists from the continent must be loyal and patriotic enough to support scientific and technological programmes; they should work hard to promote the science and technology field and they should come up with novel ways of promoting science and technology to encourage more African youths to train as scientists and technologists.

Governments’ efforts are seriously needed for the continent to arrive safely on its science and technology destination.

Accordingly, African governments through their leaders and various stakeholders in the science and technology field should come up with policies that encourage scientific innovation and research. They should also make sure that Africa-based innovation and research clearly contribute to solve problems affecting the continent. The African Union should play a big role in promoting this Africa-based scientific research.

Importantly, the African continent is a birthplace of many in the science and technology playing field. Consequently, if these people could be encouraged to stay in their respective countries, the continent could take control of its (African) science and technology.

To keep alight the candle of Professor Jonas candle of keeping scientists and technology purists in the African continent, political and business leaders should come up with packages that are attractive enough to keep bright Africans on home soil. The packages must also entice other brilliant professionals from other continents.

The continent should further advance its education sector to improve and popularise science and technology. Thus, science festivals should be aimed at playing an important role in promoting primary and secondary science education in the continent. They should have events specifically aimed at students and/or teachers, such as workshops or offering curriculum-linked workshops and science shows to local, regional and continental schools throughout the year.  

Sadly, the education sector in the continent is holding the development of Africa back. Therefore, to improve its education sector, governments, nongovernmental organisations, churches and developmental agencies as socialisation agents must push basic literacy by supporting the education sector.

They can support through donating books, building facilities such as classrooms, libraries and science and technology laboratories.

Businesses in the continent can sponsor science festivals. They can come up with social responsibility programmes through supporting science and technology cafes. They should work with governments and other stakeholders.

Since development requires a multisectoral and holistic approach, government leaders, business communities and think tanks in the continent need to build and/or rebuild African pride and faith of young Africans to achieve and gain a respective place in the world. Accordingly, embracing science and technology festivals can catalyst development and position Africa as a fertile ground of serious science and technology like any other continent.