Covid-19 has made us all more aware of the importance of science

Covid-19 has affected the developed and developing world on a scale that was not anticipated by many. It continues to cripple the continent’s fragile healthcare systems and has had far reaching economic devastation. Meaningful health development is not possible without a strong group of appropriately trained scientists.
It has been shown that successful health development only occurs where there are strong links in the knowledge value chain between doctors, health specialist, subject matter specialists, researchers and even herbalists. We saw the emergence of Covidex, a locally made herbal medicine, which the National Drug Authority (NDA) of Uganda approved in June 2021 as a supportive treatment for Covid-19.
As the global community continues to be faced with increasingly complex challenges like pandemics of this magnitude, it is becoming more evident that science for the betterment of society is a necessary imperative. Researchers and scientists contribute to a good understanding of these complex challenges of disease outbreak especially from an African perspective.
The current Covid-19 waves in Africa are a true testimony of how science helps provide solutions. The global north quickly developed vaccines for the virus because they take science seriously and make a lot of investment in it, unlike many countries in the global South. Consequently, many countries in Africa, cannot be prepared for serious calamities like Covid-19, but could take the pandemic as a lesson to invest more resources in science and research.
Within this context, there is broad agreement that Africa needs to produce significantly more PhDs to renew an ageing professoriate, to boost research and to generate the high-level skills that the continent’s growing economies need.
Without good researchers and subject matter specialists, the knowledge value chain cannot function properly. However, achieving the goal of escalating PhD production on the continent has proved elusive and it remains hindered by a myriad of negative self-reinforcing circumstances.
To overcome these challenges, business as usual is no longer an option and a radical rethink on how PhD education in Africa is conceptualised and delivered is urgently needed.
There must be a deliberate investment in supporting PhD education by African governments and increasing budget allocations to scientific research and innovation.
The good news is that efforts are already underway with initiatives like the Africa Regional Scholarship and Innovation Fund for Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology (RSIF), which go a long way in supporting the training of next generation of African Scientists with Funds pooled from Governments across Africa such as Kenya, Mozambique, Benin, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Rwanda, Ghana, and Nigeria, among others.
Beyond doctoral training, RSIF, an Africa-led, World Bank-affiliated initiative, systematically nurtures research capacity by fostering partnerships between universities and domestic and international firms to find solutions to local challenges.
Contributing to less than one per cent of the world’s scientific output , African Governments can leverage on such continental initiatives to close this gap.
If there is anything that Covid-19 has taught us all, it is that science and scientists must be supported to come up with research solutions that work for Africa.
Ms Maureen Agena is a development communications specialist
Twitter: @maureenagena