There is considerable and growing interest in innovation and emerging technologies, especially from the policy-making perspective.[1] Globally innovations and technologies are bringing about transformation in all dimensions of life, and this provides an opportunity for African countries to harness these innovations and emerging technologies to advance their socio-economic development agenda. The adoption and application of innovation and emerging technologies are, therefore, an essential part of Africa’s development, and this is in line with the aspirations and goals of the African Union’s Agenda 2063, Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA 2024), as well as the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs 2030) targets and indicators. Since the inception of these frameworks, African countries have been aligning their National Development Plans or Agendas (NDPs) and priorities to the goals and targets of Agenda 2063, SDGs and STISA 2024.
The African Union’s Agenda 2063 which is Africa’s blueprint and master plan for socio-economic transformation was adopted in 2015 as Africa’s new long-term vision for the next 50 years. It is the continent’s strategic framework that aims to deliver on its goal for inclusive and sustainable development and is a concrete manifestation of the continent’s drive for unity, self-determination, freedom, progress and collective prosperity pursued under Pan-Africanism and African Renaissance. Given the diversity of factors limiting development in African countries and also to ensure global best practices, a holistic approach focusing on enhancement of STI programs is required with focused efforts on strengthening the multi-disciplinary capacity of policy and decision-makers, R&D institutions, academia and private sector. African Heads of State and decision-makers, through Agenda 2063 have highlighted science, technology and innovation as key enablers in promoting the ability of African countries to achieve their economic transformation and socio-economic development goals.
The first Specialized Technical Committee on Education, Science, and Technology (STC-ESTI) requested the AU Commission and AUDA-NEPAD to advise Member States and RECs on matters of technology prospecting, including regulatory and ethical requirements that need to be put in place in order for the continent to benefit from emerging technologies. In response, AUDA-NEPAD held several regional consultative meetings with forty (40) Member States on Innovation and Emerging Technologies Frameworks, attended by government officials responsible for issues of health, science and technology, environment and representatives from the umbrella bodies of biosafety and food and drugs organisations, researchers and academic to consult on science and emerging technologies; and mapped the capacity needs of senior government officials.
In seeking to build a cadre of policy and decision-makers who would champion STI and emerging technologies, AUDA-NEPAD and APET in collaboration with the African Union Commission, established the Calestous Juma Executive Dialogue on Innovation and Emerging Technologies (CJED) in 2018. CJED was launched during the South African Science Forum in December 2018. The Calestous Juma Executive Dialogue (CJED) consists of a regional based 3 (three) day and national in-country capacity strengthening programme. The purpose of the executive dialogue is to strengthen the knowledge and capacity of African executives, senior officials, decision and policymakers to enable them provide technical advice to governments concerning innovation and emerging technologies appropriate for their respective countries.
The executive dialogue is relevant in addressing the challenges and opportunities that confront African countries by providing participants with a deeper understanding of the complexities of harnessing innovation and emerging technologies in Africa within a global context. CJED aims to graduate leaders who think analytically about innovation and emerging technologies. Hence institutional strengthening will be an added benefit as institutions and organizations gain a critical mass of inspired and knowledgeable professionals who have a broad and holistic perspective on innovation and emerging technologies.
Participants share knowledge, national experiences and best practices towards the effective harnessing and utilisation of emerging technologies. These participants include experienced senior policymakers and decision-makers, senior executives with significant responsibility for strategic decision-making, Chief Directors, Permanent Secretaries, Vice-chancellors, Directors-General and Directors of government ministries, parliamentarians, CEOs, senior researchers, regulators, selected experts and relevant stakeholders who are influencers on the continent, youth, civil societies and academia.
[1] Beresford, A. (2016). Africa rising? Review of African Political Economy, 43(147), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1080/03056244.2016.1149369