Innovation holds key to Africa's revival

As African countries make headway with opening up their economies, experts have underscored the need for innovation to be at the heart of the continent's strategy for recovering from the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Science, technology and innovation will enable Africa to create sustainable jobs, the experts said at the Africa Innovation and Investment Forum 2020, held virtually with a focus on COVID-19. The five-day event began on Monday.
Vera Songwe, the executive director of the Economic Commission for Africa, said Africa needs innovations to drive homegrown solutions to counter the economic recession triggered by the pandemic.
"We need investments in innovation, science and technology to understand how we can protect our citizens and also as a way of growing out of this crisis," Songwe said. "That is why for a very long time the commission has been talking of the importance also of intellectual property rights to protect the innovations of Africa's youth."
She said the costs faced by innovators wanting to register for intellectual property protection on the continent were prohibitive.
"We need to make sure that our policymakers ensure that our technological platforms are robust," she said.
Call for collaboration
Songwe said the virus has highlighted the importance of science, technology and innovation and the need for Africa to build a much stronger and more collaborative scientific and technology-driven industrial base.
"Partnerships are needed across the continent to ensure that as we build on the African Continental Free Trade Area, we develop, discover and innovate collaboratively," she said.
Songwe added that Africa also needs to come together to see how it can be part of the drive to find a vaccine for the coronavirus and other diseases affecting the continent.
She said the continent needs to innovate collectively and support its youth by creating the infrastructure required for the creation of quality jobs, while spurring economic growth and promoting public health.
Ethiopian Education Minister Getahun Mekuria said Africa has vast assets raging from its vast natural resources to the skills of its young people.
"However, we will continue to lag exponentially behind if we do not fuel our own innovations," he said.
Sarah Agbor, the African Union commissioner for human resources, science and technology, said a lack of capacity is a major issue that the continent needs to address.
"We need to boost strategic investments in science, technology and innovation if we are to deliver Africa's aspirations as enunciated in Agenda 2063," she said.
Hubert Gijzen, the regional director and representative for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organizations regional office for Southern Africa, said that while African countries focus on combating the coronavirus they should not neglect the sustainable development goals.
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