It is common for a scientist to move around the world to do research, but not to move to Africa to set up a research base. The figures are stark, and the task of developing African science and its future scientists is daunting. Government money is spent on development and security, not research and innovation. According to the World Economic Forum, Africa produces only 1.1% of global scientific knowledge. The continent has just 79 scientists per million of inhabitants compared to countries like Brazil and United States where the ratio stands at 656 and 4,500, respectively. Worst of all, of those scientists and engineers who are trained in Africa, most work elsewhere due to the lack of infrastructure and resources.
Under-investment has knock-on effects, both on the stability of the healthcare systems, as we saw in West Africa during the Ebola epidemic, but also on the economy. There are clear links between investment in basic science and innovation in the form of spin-outs and large-scale commercial research and development. Similar arguments are made all over the world, but so far in Africa they are not being won.
Theguardian
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