By Sharon Atieno
Bridging existing gaps is crucial for Africa to realize its full potential in research and development (R&D), experts said at the Evidence for Development (Evi4Dev) conference in Nairobi, Kenya.
They were speaking during a panel discussion titled, “Empowering African R&D: Practical pathways to resilience and impact-solutions from emerging leaders.”
Dr. Yaw Bediako, CEO and co-founder Yemaachi Biotech, Ghana, called for private sector involvement to translate the science into tangible products. “For our science to impact people’s lives, it has to be translated… by the end of the day, if that malaria research does not end up in a vaccine or a drug, then people will still die from malaria,” he said.
Bediako noted that the science ecosystem in Africa is heavily skewed towards academia, government, and philanthropy, with little or no private sector involvement despite their ability to transform the ideas into inventions and products.
“Governments and universities are not responsible for creating products. Product development is in the realm of commercial institutions,” he reiterated, calling for more partnership with the private sector.
Prof. Isabela Oyier, Head of Biomedical Sciences Department, KEMRI-Welcome Trust, noted that the R&D field is grant-dependent, making it unsustainable for researchers. “Get a grant, then you can support your team. If you don’t get a grant, you fall off the system,” she said, calling for a need to rethink how the R&D ecosystem is supported.
Additionally, Prof. Oyier noted that there is a huge barrier to procuring items needed for research. Exorbitant costs and challenges prevent even local manufacturers from thinking of R&D products. These barriers also affect the end product, diagnostics, equipment, as well as the items used up or consumed during the project or experiment.
Some experts called for the need to overhaul the education curriculum. Prof. Collen Masimirembwa, President and CEO African Institute of Biomedical Science and Technology, Zimbabwe, noted that there is a lack of robust infrastructure for training specialized fields like biomedical sciences in the universities. It takes a significant investment to retrain these scientists for the profession.
On her part, Prof. Nicki Tiffin, Deputy Director, South African National Bioinformatics Institute, called for the need to train and develop capacity in health informatics, noting that there is need to manage routine health data, including medical records, laboratory testing results as well as data coming from dispensing medicine.
Also, the quality of the health data has to be standardized. “We’re also recognizing we need to adapt some of the data standards to suit our African context, so, we’re not just blindly following what’s been developed in Global North, but we’re using our brains, applying ourselves to the situation and developing standards that work for us,” she said, noting that this clinical data from patients can be repurposed for research to build a stronger evidence base.
Convened by the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), Science for Africa (SFA) Foundation, and African Institute for Development Policy (AFIDEP), the three-day conference, taking place 6–8 May 2025, attracted over 300 delegates from nearly 30 African countries.
The conference emphasized the critical role of science, technology, innovation, and evidence-informed policymaking in achieving development blueprints, including the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
