RIIEW 2026 UPDATE ...
Highlights from the address by ZEGU Vice-Chancellor, Professor Innocent Chirisa (PART 1)
"Apparently, I would try to say, what are the issues in research, maybe in this country, and project it to Africa.
"What are the aspects of innovation; What are the aspects of industrialisation; Where do we see gaps; Entrepreneurship, what are we talking about?
"But there is another aspect which is covered under the NDS2, which is about markets commercialising the products.
"Now, when we look at research, you know, one depressing thing is that when we look at the globe, Africa houses 18% of the globe population. So, a quarter of the population is expected by 2050 to be coming from Africa and 40% by 2100.
"However, the sad thing is that the continent is underrepresented in terms of research. As of 2022, only 3% of global research output was coming from Africa, a population of 18%. But when you look at the output, just 3%, which is quite serious.
"In other words, we are not producing what inflames our population.
"...This is largely because of underfunded national research and development Systems, which average just 0.5% of GDP.
"So, we want to ask ourselves as a nation, what is the quantum of research output that we produce and consume globally?
More details to follow...
