Date: 26 January 2023

The Association of African Universities (AAU) convened a one-day workshop on 26 January 2023 in Accra, Ghana with key stakeholders from higher education, science and policy bodies from across the continent to charter a way forward in addressing disparities in global science and knowledge production for African institutions.

An indicator of the continent’s unfavourable positioning in global research and science is the seeming dependence of its domestic research endeavour on international collaborations—and funding-- with institutions in the global North. More than 85% of research outputs in Central, Southern and East Africa, for example, involve such collaboration. Intra-Africa collaboration and single country/institution work remain much less common.

Having implemented research programmes for over three decades, the African Academy of Sciences (AAS) shared insights on research partnership strategies and initiatives on the continent. AAS also committed to working with the AAU and other stakeholders to develop an Africa-centred guiding framework that will promote fair and equitable research partnerships to respond to global challenges.

The guiding framework will outline the concerns and contributions of all key Africa-based knowledge constituencies and will state the required directions for change for enhanced co-creation and inclusivity in research partnerships.

This initiative aligns with the AAS mandate of providing advisory and think tank functions for shaping the continent’s Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) strategies and policies.