UNECA tasks Africa on science infrastructural development

A DIRECTOR, ICT Division, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Ms Aida Opoku-Mensah, said Africa must develop its science and technology infrastructure to enable the continent develop.Opoku-Mensah made this known in Addis Ababa at a news conference to mark the beginning of the five-day conference of the Committee on Development Information, Science and Technology (CODIST-2).Investment on ICT, Science and Technology infrastructure would form the basis of Science and Technology development in Africa, she said.Opoku-Mensah, said the conference, with theme  Innovation and Industrial Development, would be attended by about 500 participants and would seek to modify, delete and add innovations that were necessary for Africas technological development.She said the Committee has for two years now been working towards e-legislation as well as policy implementation on ICT, Science and Technology in African countries through the various regional groupings such as the ECOWAS and SADC.Africa needs to develop and catch up with the rest of the world especially in ICT infrastructure. Internet and telephone services are very expensive in Africa when compared with other continents because of lack of connectivity, she said.Opoku-Mensah said that lack of Internet and telephone connectivity has led to Africas lack of capacity building and slow industrialisation.Africa is losing investment, job opportunities, industries and development because of poor infrastructure. Africas banking sector is yet to be integrated as the continent continues to lose out from an opportunity to invest in e-commerce trade with other continents, Opoku-Mensah said.She said Africas poor investment on science infrastructure was also responsible for the continents high rate of brain drain.Opoku-Mensah said Africa should not ignore science and technology because of the ongoing digital revolution across the world.Africa must go digital, science can be use as an integration tool on the continent especially through research and development between and among countries, she said.
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