NEPAD: Politicians say "I do, I do" to science
Christina Scott
JOHANNESBURG: Bright, tiny flags from 53 countries across the continent no
longer dot the delegates' conference tables. The sober dark suits and flowing
robes of 34 ministers and their minders have long since left for the airport.
The catering staff at the Sunnyside Park Hotel can hang up their laminated
security clearances. NEPAD's first-ever high-level political meeting about
reviving science and technology has ended.
The ministers have reached an agreement. Now the real work begins.
Madagascar wanted more on biodiversity. All references to genetically
modified food - the kind rejected by famine-struck Zambia last year - were
deleted. The North African countries skipped lunch discussions and were very
grateful that negotiations seldom extended beyond iftar, the sundown meal which
breaks the day-long fast in the month of Ramadan. Meanwhile, the vexing question
of good governance was assisted by the last-minute non-appearance of Zimbabwean
Science Minister Olivia Muchena, famous for complaining that she was one of the
last politicians to be allocated a farm. The usual conference shenanigans.
In the end, there was a breakthrough, a sort of science and technology
pre-nuptial contract. It's taken a year of work and a week of meetings but the
final result is a carefully drafted document which laboriously spells out the
mechanisms of injecting science in Africa with a life-saving transfusion of
money, year after year after year.
What's proposed is an arranged marriage between science and politics.
Scientists are supposed to bring economic rejuvenation and poverty fighting as
part of their lobola. In exchange, politicians promise to love, honour and
financially support them to the tune of one percent of each country's gross
domestic product, listed as a line item in every national budget within a
five-year engagement.
The problem is, politicians are tempted by many potential partners. Who knows
how long they will remain faithful to science? The only country on the continent
that currently achieves the 1% GDP milestone is Egypt, which finds it hard to be
faithful.
"We recently reached our target and we find it difficult to
maintain," warned Hagar Islambouly, Egyptian ambassador to South Africa.
Algerian minister Rachid Haraoubia said his financial commitment to science was
written into the country's legislation five years ago. As a result, Algeria was
coming very, very close to breaking through the numbers barrier but is it a case
of always a bridesmaid and never a bride?
"It won't take ten years to see results. We will get some impact within
five years," predicted an optimistic Dr Wilson Mwenya, executive secretary
of the Zambian National Science and Technology Council.
Part of the problem is that NEPAD initiatives - especially relatively obscure
science projects, not nearly as easy to cover as war and hunger - may trickle
down in ways which obscure their source. Analysts and bloody-minded journalists
will hang on that one percent GDP figure as evidence. If countries do not
achieve the target, the one percent figure will be less of a carrot for
recalcitrant government accountants and more of
a smoking gun.
The neighbourhood's economic muscleman, South Africa, invests more taxpayers'
money to science in real terms than most of sub-Saharan Africa put together. But
as a percentage, even South Africa only allocates 0.7% of its budget to science.
Science Minister Ben Ngubane is going to have to schedule a few meetings with
Finance Minister Trevor Manuel, because he has vowed to reach the 1% target
within four years. It's going to be difficult to put pressure on others if even
South Africa is straying from the NEPAD goals.
It's also going to be tricky to put the case for science now. Parliaments are
closing for that Eurocentric custom called Christmas and 2004 is an election
year for several countries in southern Africa. It's going to be difficult for
some enthusiastic politicians to continue supporting science if they've been
kicked out of their job for not showing the same enthusiasm for the hustings.
On the other hand, it's not just a case of "show me the money."
Thoughtful work has gone into how technocrats can sustain the scattered pockets
of scientific excellence across the continent, and beyond. Scientists from the
African diaspora aren't going to be hit over a head with a guilt trip but they
can expect more offers of round-trip plane tickets and accommodation to pass on
their knowledge back home at conferences and workshops.
The proposed networks of specialist science isn't just to avoid duplication,
combat isolation and stretch limited human resources to their fullest. It is
also designed to exploit this new ministerial support. For example, the African
Laser Centre wants to offer post-doctoral fellowships. A Phd physics student
from Namibia can come to Stellenbosch for the lab work and may return home for
the theoretical component not just armed with new
knowledge, but with some serious lasers in the luggage hold. Yet earlier this
year it took three days for Namibian customs to allow a laser through the border
for a conference. The scientists required the Namibian finance minister's
intervention to waive customs' R40,000 claim in taxes.
Recently independent Africa was once very proud - almost prickly - about its
borders but globalisation has transformed all that. Decent telecommunications
and satellites means that faraway scientists can communicate at the click of a
mouse, but they still need to move easily between countries without the local
equivalent of Home Affairs treating them like aliens. Speaking of aliens, space
science requires such a deep wallet that it almost automatically requires joint
ventures among countries.
Botswana is already replacing copper cable telephone lines with high-data
fibre optic lines should South Africa win its bid for the one billion dollar
Square Kilometre Array radio telescopes (SKA) meant to look back into the
origins of the universe. If the bid fails, at least the baTswana will have
deterred the copper thieves.
"The fact of the matter is that a huge hi-tech project will only be 45
minutes from the capital, Gaborone," said Lephimotswe Boyce Sebetela, the
Minister of Communications, Science and Technology from Botswana. "The
University of Botswana, which has a science faculty and an engineering
department, would be able to link up with this. Whilst immediate benefits are
perhaps not obvious, as Africa seeks to become part of the information and
knowledge economy, a facility like SKA will open all sorts of
opportunities."
Oddly enough, because the telescope bid is so big, requiring specialist
international finance, it is not expected to cut into more mundane budgetary
items like anti-retrovirals for the AIDS-infected and food for the poor. "I
know it sounds like pie in the sky," the Sénégalese Minister of
Scientific Research, Christian Sina Diatta, told one Doubting Thomas. "But
space research is not pouring dollars out the window. It is an area which
can achieve concrete results fairly quickly. It's relevant to meteorology, to
telecoms, to surveillance."
Ever been to a wedding where someone at the back of the hall is taking bets
on how long the marriage will last? The NEPAD science clock is ticking. In a
year, expect a report card.
More information:
NEPAD: www.nepad.org
www.nepadst.org The African Forum on
Science and Technology for Development
LASERS: www.nlcsa.co.za
http://www.nstc.org.zm is the website for
the Zambian National Science and
Technology Council.
http://www.gouv.sn is the website for the
Senegalese government
http://www.gouv.sn/ministeres/mrecherche/contacts.cfm
which takes you
straight to the Ministry of Scientific Research.
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