Ministers Call for Less Talk, More Action on Biotech and Nanotech

Africa urgently needs to invest heavily in new technology to spur economic growth across the continent. This call came during the Smart Partnership International Dialogue meeting on 29th June 2013 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The annual forum was attended by Zimbabwe's Minister for Science and Technology Professor Heneri Dzinotyiweyi amongst other dignitaries from various countries.

Speaking at the meeting, Professor Dzinotyiweyi urged his African peers to invest heavily in institutions of higher learning, allow scientists to exploit their talents, and provide innovative solutions to problems facing the continent. "It's time for action and not talking. We need to be decisive and move forward, rather than taking years debating issues of science and technology, because issues such as biotechnology and nanotechnology are being debated for too many years," he said.

His views were supported by Tanzania's Minister for Energy and Minerals, Professor Sospeter Muhongo who noted that with an estimated one billion people, Africa's share of the global trade is very little because of little or no investment in knowledge generation. Professor Muhogo gave an example of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries who have invested heavily in knowledge generation and whose GDP accounts for more than 90 per cent of the global GDP, in comparison to Africa's GDP which accounts for only two per cent.

The Smart Partnership Dialogues began in the early 1990s as a platform for scientists to meet and discuss global scientific and technological issues by bringing Heads of State and Government, key industry leaders, entreprenuers, scientists and Nobel Prize Winners to a roundtable discussion on the issues.

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