Support for African science

NePAD, the New Partnership for African Development, is creating five regional science and technology programs to encourage development in the poorest region of the world, where half the population lives on under $1 a day and the average life expectancy is 47.

By the middle of this month, the chief officer of NePAD's African Forum on Science and Technology for Development (AFSTD), John Mugabe, expects to appoint the last experts to deepen scientific cooperation and create centers of excellence in five broad regions of the continent—North, East, West, Central, and Southern Africa.

“We've received nominations for four regions, and the process of appointment is going ahead. We are seeking a nominee for Central Africa, through the steering committee from that region,” Mugabe told The Scientist. NePAD is being developed by the Algerian, Egyptian, Nigerian, Senegalese, and South African governments on behalf of the 52-country African Union.

In each region, AFSTD ...