Pushing the higher education, science and technology agenda

ADEA actively engaged in the 2nd Ministerial Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation (STI), which took place October 14-17, 2014 in Rabat, Morocco. 

For several months it has helped organize the Forum, alongside the African Development Bank (AfDB), the government of  Finland and other partners.  It chaired a session on linking Technical and Vocational Skills Development (TVSD) to  STI to fuel growth and create jobs and facilitated a workshop on youth and entrepreneurship . It also helped organize three Ministerial panels on Africa’s vision and agenda for STI. 

The Rabat Declaration signed by the 21 Ministers present at the Forum highlights ADEA’s key role in implementing STI in Africa. In the Declaration, the Ministers express their commitment  to ”contribute to new initiatives aimed at promoting STI for the transformation of Africa in particular the Human Capital Development Strategy of AfDB (2014-2018), the operational strategy - "Priority Africa 2014-2021"- of UNESCO, the establishment of centers of excellence in STI in Africa by regional and international institutions (AfDB, World Bank, UNECA, ISESCO) and the redesign of the ADEA Working Group on Higher Education to include an STI dimension”. 

The Forum discussed the state of STI in Africa and a number of topics including water management, energy and green growth, agriculture and food security, the pharmaceutical industry, women’s participation in the sciences, intellectual property, entrepreneurship, natural resources management, health, skills for extractive industries, the involvement of the African Diaspora in promoting STI in Africa and Africa’s vision and agenda for STI. 

For more information, contact Tarek Chehidi, Coordinator ADEA ICT Task Force,  t.chehidi@afdb.org or Thanh-Hoa Desruelles, External Relations and Communication Officer, ADEA, t.desruelles@afdb.org