The president of Senegal has urged African countries "not to remain passive consumers of new technologies, but to keep in step with the rest of the world in developing an effective research capacity".
According to Adboulaye Wade, Africa has the capacity to emulate the success of Asian nations in becoming a home for technological research.
Yaye Kene Gamassa Dia, Senegal's minister for scientific research and the new president of the Committee of African Science and Technology Ministers, underlined the need for "a new vitality in the scientific and technological systems of African countries".
Gamassa Dia, previously professor of biotechnology at the University Cheikh Anta Diop in Dakar, urged African countries to collaborate more closely to develop the science and technology needed to address the challenges of poverty and economic growth.
This was particularly important, she said, since guaranteeing the continent's food security, building its infrastructure and developing high-quality products for world markets all depend on Africa's technological potential.
It has been organised by the African Union and its New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), to agree on ways in which science and technology can be used to narrow the technological gap between developed and developing countries.
The plan, which is due to be endorsed by the ministers envisages putting in place "strategic axes of governance, programmes of action and mechanisms for allowing the development of an African system of research and technological innovation".
The latter, it says, would be built on "the creation and reinforcement of networks of centres of excellence focusing on specific programmes of research and development".
For this strategy to be effective, Gamassa Dia said, the continent would need "to break with previous strategies and make use of the appropriate resources allowing science and technology to act as driving forces in [its] economy".
Ministers attending the meeting are being asked to approve the creation of financing mechanisms that co-ordinate the raising of funds to support science and technology initiatives from both African countries and international aid organisations.
Botluale Tema, a representative of the African Union, emphasised the need for African countries to generate the scientific and technological capacity to resolve their own problems, and not remain dependent on outside assistance.
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