TICAD 7: South Africa, Japan, AfDB’s chiefs emphasize on Africa’s tech transformation journey

Today, on August 30, the 7^th Tokyo International Conference on African Development 2019 is about to end. The President of African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina earlier already stated at the conference "We must end hunger in Africa. Yes, we must! Hunger diminishes our humanity." Concerning the technological development in the African continent, Akinwumi Adesina of AfDB said, "Let's be visionary. Let's be bold. Let's support concrete initiatives to boost science, technology, and innovation in Africa."

The Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe has recently said at the 7^th Tokyo International Conference on African Development 2019 (TICAD 7) that science, technology and innovation as well as human resource development are critical for the African continent.

The Science and Technology in Society forum (STS forum) is one of the largest and most influential non-profit organizations established in 2004 by Koji Omi, a former Japanese Minister of Finance. The forum aims at boosting cooperation between Japan and Africa in science, technology, and innovation. Shinzo Abe also highlighted the important role that science and technology played in the history of Japan's modernization.

The conference also witnessed eminent stalwarts like South Africa's President, Cyril Ramaphosa, AfDB's Akinwumi Adesina, founder and chairman of the STS forum, Koji Omi, the Japanese politician Yasutoshi Nishimura, and the member of Japan's House of Representatives, Asako Omi.

"South Africa endorses the focus on science, technology, and innovation as a priority theme for TICAD 7, given its great potential to accelerate African development through mutually beneficial partnerships with Japan. The STS forum has successfully changed global discourse on the role of science in development, we seek the forum's support in changing the discourse on the role of Africa in science and innovation," President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa told participants.

Even AfDB's chief Akinwumi Adesina shared insights on the bank's contribution and support in training and developing the next generation of scientists. "We are proud of our investment in supporting the establishment of the Regional Center of Excellence in Kigali in conjunction with the Carnegie Mellon University, which is providing world-class Masters degree training in ICT. I am delighted that all the students that have graduated from the university have 100 percent employment, including setting up their businesses, Akinwumi Adesina said.

AfDB, on the other hand, has provided support to the establishment of ICT digital parks in Senegal and Cape Verde and is working with the Rockefeller Foundation, Microsoft, Facebook, LinkedIn and Safaricom to establish coding centers in several countries. Adesina offered some key areas to prioritize in science and technology, including the establishment of regional centers of excellence; the urgent need to increase the share of GDP devoted to science and technology and close the gender gap in higher education.

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