Cape Town

Thirty-four African countries have committed themselves to spending at least 1% of their economic output on science and technology within five years.

The pledge was made in Johannesburg last week at the inaugural meeting of the ministerial council on science and technology, part of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) initiative.

Currently, Egypt is the only African country to spend 1% of its gross domestic product on research and development, although Algeria is close behind. South Africa, which will chair the ministerial council responsible for implementing the NEPAD science and technology programme, estimates its current spending at 0.7%, and hopes this will rise to 1% within four years.

Wieland Gevers, president of the Academy of Science of South Africa, welcomed the announcement as “a huge step forward”, but added that success “would depend on how purposefully funds were used”.

Gevers hopes that the commitment will help attract aid from rich countries to support research in Africa — although he warned that Africans should not be junior partners in any resulting work. He said that an alliance of 10 African science academies will meet next month to consider how they can move towards the goal.

Biotechnology, science and technology for manufacturing, and energy and water research were among the 12 fields emphasized at the meeting. The aim is to create a centre of excellence in each field.

The African Laser Centre, which comprises a network of national laser-research institutions, was launched at the conference. NEPAD is also backing the upgrading of existing centres, including the International Livestock Research Institute in Nairobi, to which the Canadian government last month committed US$21 million.