Science with Africa Conference

Closing Statement by Mr. Abdoulie Janneh, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ECA

6 March 2008, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Honourable Speakers of Parliaments, Ministers and Parliamentarians

Excellencies,

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen

We have come to the end of a long, demanding, tasking and above all very productive three days. I am sure you will agree with me that this ‘Science with Africa Conference' has been a milestone in the promotion of the use of science and technology in the African development process.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all, African scientists and scholars, international research partners, parliamentarians, policymakers, entrepreneurs for the commitment and unwavering determination you have shown during these last few days. As you all know, the scale of the challenge facing Africa in the area of science and technology is huge but I am confident that working together we will be able to overcome them.

I posed several questions at the beginning of this Conference relating to the creation of strong linkages between industry and science; scrutiny mechanisms for patent regimes; quality standards in tertiary education in science and technology; the coordination of efforts at national, regional and international levels in order to broaden access to data from publicly funded research and greater regional and international co-operation in science and technology, to meet a broad range of challenges related to economic growth.

Although I did not have the opportunity to attend all the breakout sessions, I understand that your deliberations were of great quality and that you also came up with landmark recommendations. Indeed, you have seriously reflected, confronted and addressed your collective wisdom to many of these challenges and it is pleasing to know for instance that:

•  Strong actions were proposed to create strong linkages between industry and S&T and to prioritize innovation as part of the broader strategy to improve market competitiveness of Africa's products.

•  Proposals were made for Africa to boost its R&D capacities through increased collaboration with partners from both the North and South, including the EU, Korea and India who have fully demonstrated their commitment to supporting Africa by their presence here.

•  There is a need to do more to make the international intellectual property regime more development friendly so as to harness knowledge from existing patents and better utilise international opportunities. Particularly noteworthy in this regard is the effort by developing countries in the World Intellectual Property Organization to include issues such as indigenous knowledge rights in the IPR regime.

This Conference also came up with innovative ideas and suggestions across the board in areas such as Energy, Transport, Infrastructure, ICT, Health, Life Sciences, Agriculture/Climate Change and Water. Of course, implementing all these recommendations cannot happen without an enabling policy environment. The visionary effort by the AU to develop a policy framework in this regard is laudable. I encourage this commitment and re-affirm that ECA is ready to work in partnership with AU to fast track work in this area.

I am glad that the Ideasfactory process has given us some innovative and concrete ideas for moving forward. I therefore hope that you will all remain engaged in the process of realizing the potential and legacy of this conference. ECA on its part will table the outcomes of Science with Africa at the joint meetings of the ECA and AU Conference of Ministers of Finance taking place here in Addis Ababa at the end of this month. By this means, we hope to engage Africa's Finance Ministers in supporting research and development efforts in the continent.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am sure you will all agree with me that this has been a useful forum for engaging in, and deliberating on challenges relating to Science and Technology and I would like to assure you that the United Nations system will continue to be your active companion in your efforts to play a more active and positive role in your societies. ECA will remain actively engaged in this issues as your ever present partner, along with our other leading Pan African institutions, the African Union Commission and the African Development Bank (ADB).

As we bring this Conference to a successful close, let me take this opportunity to once again thank our partners who were supportive in the organization and success of this Conference:

•  I extend our deepest gratitude to the Government and people of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia for their support in hosting this Conference.

•  I similarly thank the African Union for its active collaboration and partnership as well as all the UN agencies that worked so encouragingly together to ensure the success of this Conference.

•  Our debt of gratitude goes to our co-sponsors the Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation – SDC, and the Canadian
e-Policy Resource Centre and our knowledge partners - UNESCO, the Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP) and Brainstore for their invaluable and timely support in many important aspects.

•  I also wish to express appreciation to Ethiopian Airlines, Microsoft and Nokia Siemens for their various sponsorships.

•  Last but certainly not least I wish to acknowledge the sterling contribution of African Union Staff and ECA staff especially those in ISTD, Travel, Finance and Conference Services who worked tirelessly to put this all together. Let me single some of them out and thank them for their diligence in organizing this conference.

I wish you all a safe journey as you travel back to your respective destinations.

Thank you.