"Technology is not transferred, it is acquired. Africa needs to build innovation management capacity", said Prof. Calestous Juma at the monthly meeting of the African Ambassadors Group in the U.S.

Washington, DC- Prof. Calestous Juma, Professor of the Practice of International Development, briefed recently the African Ambassadors Group in Washington D.C, on a new program of capacity building between Harvard Kennedy School ( HKS) and African countries in the areas of technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship. The briefing was as a follow-up of his key note speech at the First Ministerial Meeting of the African Union's Specialized Technical Committee on Education, Science and Technology, held in Addis Ababa on 30 October 2015.

Addressing the African Ambassadors' Group in Washington, DC, on 18 November 2015, during their monthly meeting at the African Union Mission to the U.S, Prof. Juma, who is also the Project Director of Science, Technology and Globalization at the Belfer Center at Harvard University, said that “technological capacity and international competitiveness are an expression of domestic human and entrepreneurial capabilities.”

Prof. Juma also underscored that African countries can strengthen their ability to acquire, domesticate and eventually generate their own technologies by strengthening their universities. “Doing so may require creating a new generation of innovation universities that combine research, teaching, extension and commercialization,” he said.“Building the capacity to manage technological innovation is emerging as one of the most critical challenges facing African nations,” he added.

Prof. Juma announced during the briefing that Harvard Kennedy School had launched the Technology, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship in Africa (TIE-Africa) Executive Program with a $1 million gift from the Schooner Foundation to assist African countries build innovation management capacity.

The support was a result of the close collaboration between the African Union Commission and HKS during the formulation and adoption of the Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA-2024),” Professor Juma informed the African senior diplomats in Washington, DC.

“We look forward to working closely with the African Union and African Embassies accredited to the U.S in helping identify participants in the program,” he added.

The first three-day session of the TIE-Africa will be held at HKS in September 2016. “The program will convene senior leaders from Africa to identify practical solutions to the continent’s technological challenges,” he noted.

Prof. Juma also stressed the importance of economic diplomacy in the work of African missions in the 21st century as well as the role that plays science and technology cooperation as a central theme in economic statecraft. “For these reasons, African countries should start exploring the possibilities of establishing science and technology representations in the key capitals of technological innovation around the world,” before concluding that African countries can be represented collectively, regionally or individually".

For more information please contact Mr. Tarek Ben Youssef, Senior Political Officer, African Union Mission to the U.S.at TarekY@africa-union.org

Directorate of Information and Communication | African Union Commission I E-mail: DIC@african-union.org I Web Site: www.au.int I Addis Ababa | Ethiopia

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