Next Einstein Forum Champions Science and Innovation as Pillars of Africa’s Economic Growth

By Nathalie Munyampenda, Managing Director of The Next Einstein Forum (NEF), Kigali, Rwanda

In many African cities, young people often name athletes, musicians, or entrepreneurs like Sadio Mané, Mo Salah, Wizkid, Aliko Dangote, or Mark Zuckerberg when asked about famous Africans. Rarely do they mention scientists or inventors. This reflects a broader cultural perception where science and “sciencepreneurship” are not seen as attractive career paths. The Next Einstein Forum is actively working to change this narrative.

This shift is critical because Africa faces a significant demographic challenge: approximately 11 million young people enter the labor market annually. The continent is producing more graduates than available jobs, and new employment opportunities require the creation of new industries. While Africa is becoming known as the “startup continent,” NEF stresses that it needs more unicorn companies—businesses that create industries, generate jobs, and have transformative economic impacts.

Over the past 18 months, NEF has developed a Pan-African vision and roadmap focused on the digital economy, which it identifies as the continent’s largest driver of innovation. Through consultations with public and private sector stakeholders, NEF found that Africa lacks a collaborative innovation framework to accelerate digital economic growth and its benefits. The organization calls for a redefinition of innovation and its role in transforming economies and societies.

NEF’s approach centers on viewing education as a value chain requiring targeted interventions at each stage. The forum has outlined five pillars to expedite the transition from laboratory ideas to market-ready solutions.

The first two pillars emphasize the necessity of both basic and digital infrastructure. Contrary to assumptions that digital infrastructure can substitute for physical infrastructure, NEF argues that roads, efficient customs services, and other foundational elements remain essential. For example, purchasing agricultural products online from distant farmers requires reliable transport and logistics to be viable and affordable.

The third pillar addresses the enabling environment or ecosystem. NEF highlights the need for sound policies and regulatory frameworks that foster early collaboration among public and private sectors and civil society. To accelerate innovation, NEF identifies three priorities:

First, developing new financing instruments and partnerships to support pilot and demonstration projects across Africa. Currently, no comprehensive research and innovation fund exists on the continent to systematically finance such initiatives.

Second, increasing awareness of intellectual property (IP) rights and their value in promoting innovation, creativity, and business growth. A recent WIPO study covering 19 ARIPO member countries revealed low IP awareness, underscoring the need for educational efforts.

Third, establishing an open innovation framework with robust technology transfer mechanisms in universities and colleges. This would ensure that academic research translates into products and services addressing local challenges. Effective technology transfer offices must be systematically funded and supported.

NEF is also developing a continent-wide state of science and innovation index to identify success factors and recalibrate the definition of innovation to maximize transformative impact. The first edition of this index is scheduled for launch in March 2020 at the NEF Global Gathering in Nairobi, Kenya.

The final two pillars focus on technology and talent. NEF advocates for improving education to equip African children with multidisciplinary skills, preparing them to be both employees and entrepreneurs. Special emphasis is placed on retaining girls in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) pipeline.

At the tertiary level, NEF stresses the importance of preparing students for employment while also nurturing top researchers and engineers. Without a strong research culture, Africa risks dependence on technologies developed elsewhere. A cultural shift is needed to make scientific research a prestigious and desirable profession.

Postgraduate research funding is another critical area. NEF calls for partnerships with the private sector and innovative funding mechanisms to support research commercialization, which often requires substantial investment to validate concepts, launch products, and scale production.

NEF encourages governments to align priorities with their competitive advantages, especially in light of the African Continental Free Trade Area. Pooling resources to focus on enabling technologies such as cybersecurity, Big Data, artificial intelligence, machine learning, cloud computing, and 5G is essential. Coordination among stakeholders is necessary to ensure contributions effectively harness the social and economic benefits of these technologies.

As an initiative of the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), NEF’s bold ambition is that the next Einstein will emerge from Africa. AIMS trains top scientific talent from 43 countries, offering master’s degrees in mathematical sciences and machine intelligence. It also attracts global researchers to work on real-world problems using mathematics and trains secondary school teachers to make mathematics education more engaging, thereby sustaining the STEM pipeline for both girls and boys.