Kagame who was speaking Monday in Kigali in a three-day Next Einstein Forum (NEF) said that the joint commitment to promoting mathematics and sciences reflects their importance in human progress.
NEF is a biennial meeting that brings together Africa’s innovators to highlight breakthrough discoveries and catalyze scientific collaboration for human development.
Kagame said that when researchers and commercial enterprises apply those capabilities to solve practical problems, they become innovations that enhance livelihoods.
He reminded science policy authors to incorporate women and girls as the continent catches up with the World.
He said the gender gap in science is a global phenomenon, but added that there is no reason to accept it, as inevitable. He said whatever the causes may be; they have to dedicate themselves to closing the gap, because opportunity will never be equal, without equal access to knowledge.
“It’s not just about filling heads with information, and performing well in exams. The purpose is to apply that knowledge, to solve the problems facing our continent and our world,” he reminded.
To achieve that, Kagame said it requires an innovation ecosystem, in which government, business, and educational institutions all reinforce each other.
He said they need to build on the good initiatives underway, to create more productive linkages between the African research and innovation community, both in universities and start-up firms.
Use available resources
Kagame said that it is assumed that technical expertise is unavailable in Africa and governments are as guilty, as big companies, in this regard.
“We keep going back to the same external suppliers for solutions, without making every effort to procure the services here. It doesn’t make sense. Let’s use the resources we have, to give these talented African specialists, the chance to grow and compete professionally,” he urged.
“There may be some extra costs, in the short term. But doing so, will not only build our institutions, but increase our capacity for international collaboration, as well,” he added.
The President and Chief Executive Officer of African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) and also the Chair of Next Einstein Forum, Thierry Zomahoun said that the meeting aims at celebrating the contribution of Africa to Global Science.
He said, as they come together, they celebrate the achievements of some of Africa’s brightest scientific minds.
“We know that humans already had cognitive ability in Africa, as we agree by now, Africa is cradle of humanity, Africans were the first to count and the continent was the place where humans started counting for the first time, not only Africa is the cradle of humanity, but we arguably suggest that Africa is the cradle of mathematics,” he said.
Using the examples of oldest mathematical instruments like ‘Lebombo Borne (35,000 BC) which was found in Swaziland and Ishango Bone (20,000 BC) which was found in the Democratic Republic of Congo among others, Zomahoun called scientists to recall the contribution of Africa to science.
NEF is an initiative of the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences in partnership with Robert Bosch Stiftung, a European foundation which promotes sciences.
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