The evolution of science and technology policy dialogue in post-colonial Africa

Chinsembu, Kazhila C.; Kasanda, Choshi D.

The evolution of science and technology policy dialogue in post-colonial Africa

Date

2012

Authors

Chinsembu, Kazhila C.

Kasanda, Choshi D.

Publisher

[s.l]

Abstract

This paper describes the dialogue around Science and Technology (S and T) policy in post-colonial African countries with a special emphasis on Southern Africa. It traces the evolution of S and T policy dialogue from several global and African conferences held in the 1960s. In post-colonial Africa, S and T policy dialogue was founded on the Monrovia declaration of 1979 and the Lagos Plan of Action of 1980. In the new millennium, African S and T policy dialogue has been driven by the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). In Southern Africa, the S and T policy environment is guided by several treaties of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Although African S and T policies are well discussed and articulated, implementation of the S and T agenda has been poor, hence the authors recommend that NEPAD institutes an S and T peer-review mechanism to monitor performance of S and T indicators in member states.

Keywords

Science and technology policy, Science dialogue, Africa

Citation

Chinsembu, K.C. & Kasanda, C.D. (2012). The evolution of science and technology policy dialogue in post-colonial Africa. Educational Research, 3(4), 351-356. Available at: http://interesjournals.org/ER/pdf/2012/April/Chinsembu%20and%20Kasanda.pdf