The Rwandan capital city expands its international scientific influence with the opening of a new research and training center.
This is a joint project by the international non-profit organization SciTech DiploHub, the City Governments of Barcelona and Kigali, and the leading universities and scientific academies from over 50 African countries.
This project represents the largest-ever investment in scientific cooperation with Africa made by a Europe-based organization.
SciTech DiploHub, the Science and Technology Diplomacy Hub, a non-profit international organization headquartered in Barcelona (Spain) and with offices in Brussels (Belgium), Geneva (Switzerland), Washington DC (USA), and Mexico City (Mexico), has joined forces with the City Government of Barcelona and other global organization to announce today the launch of the Science Diplomacy Center for Africa. Located in Kigali, Rwanda, this initiative is part of SciTech DiploHub’s strategy to strengthen its presence in global scientific diplomacy and follows the successful example of the establishment in 2022 of the Scientific Diplomacy Center for Ibero-America, based in Mexico City and working on enhancing the science diplomacy capacities of Latin American countries.
The launch of the Center has taken place within the framework of SciTech DiploHub’s participation as partner of the Annual Conference of the International Network of Governmental Scientific Advice, which has been held in Kigali before hundreds of delegates from more than 65 countries.
The choice of Kigali is deliberate: the city is the main technological hub of Africa and has maintained a close collaboration with SciTech DiploHub since 2019 in different initiatives related to women entrepreneurship, technological startups, and smart cities.
The Science Diplomacy Center for Africa will coordinate initiatives among scientists, diplomats, policy-makers, tech entrepreneurs, and multinational companies, fostering collaborative research and technological development in Africa. In the first three years of activity, the Center is expected to train over 2,500 African professionals in science and technology diplomacy and support the development of new strategies in science policy for about twenty national and local governments in the region.
The main working lines will address research on specific challenges that Africa faces, such as climate change, public health, city resilience, social and economic inequalities, and technological entrepreneurship in the field of sustainable development, and will study their connections to the continent’s current geopolitical complexities.
Alexis Roig, CEO of SciTech DiploHub, highlighted that “as the international organization working in science diplomacy, launching this Center is a strategic move to enhance international collaboration between the leading research institutions, universities and companies of the growing African science and technology ecosystem. It will be a key piece in the promotion of the scientific leadership of Africa in the Global South and will facilitate collaborations that transcend borders and discipline with partner countries in the Global North”.
According to the Minister of Education of Rwanda, Gaspard Twagirayezu, “we are at a crucial moment to manage the long-term challenges that affect us all. Issues that a few years ago were considered marginal are today central to our social, environmental, and economic well-being. We are aware of how rapid scientific advances generate great public interest, but we also need to build the capacities to absorb, generate, and critically evaluate new knowledge and technologies. Overcoming current crises and future challenges requires global coordination in scientific advice, and Rwanda and Africa can greatly benefit from this collaboration.”
The Executive Director of the Network of African Scientific Academies (NASAC), Jackie Kado, noted during her speech that “the goal is for this Pan-African initiative to play a vital role in training professionals from our continent at the interface between science and policy, and in energizing the African scientific diasporas around the world. It is a pride to be able to work hand in hand with SciTech DiploHub on this ambitious task.”
In the words of the Commissioner for International Relations of the City Government of Barcelona, Pau Solanilla, “Barcelona’s international action also passes through cooperation and the promotion of global justice understood in terms of the 21st century: we raise the scientific capacities and talent of the countries we work with, to create new opportunities and a fairer and more sustainable future. Our alliance with Kigali and Africa is one of our top international priorities as a global city.”
The project driven by SciTech DiploHub along with the City Governments of Barcelona and Kigali, the Government of Rwanda, the Network of African Scientific Academies (NASAC), representing more than 30 academies from the continent, and the Association of African Universities, representing more than 400 universities from 50 African countries. The initiative will also involve more than thirty Spanish universities, research centers, and organizations, part of the SciTech DiploHub network.
The initiative will have an unprecedented investment of 3 million euros until 2028, thanks to the contribution of the founding institutions and funds from the European Commission through the co-financing scheme promoted by the African Union – European Union Innovation Agenda. Additionally, the new center is part of the context of the Africa Plan by the Government of Spain.
The presentation in Europe of the new Scientific Diplomacy Center for Africa will take place on July 4th, within the framework of the World Science Diplomacy Summit, which will be hosted this year for the first time by Barcelona, and will gather science ministers, state secretaries, Nobel laureates, and other global leaders from the fields of science, technology, and public policy from around the world.