Though the region has approximately 12 percent of the world’s population, sub-Saharan countries produce just 1 percent of scientific research. It is important to note, however, that research has more than doubled in the last decade or so, increasing the region’s share of global research from just 0.44 percent in 2003.
Nearly 80 percent of research in Southern Africa – excluding South Africa, and 70 percent in East Africa is done in collaboration with international partners. While collaboration is undoubtedly integral to the research process, the degree to which sub-Saharan Africa is dependent on other partners suggests a lack of internal capacity.
While many countries have strong research relations with countries on other continents, there is very little intra-collaboration among different African countries. Collaborations without an international collaborator, or South Africa, represent just 2 percent of all East African research, 0.9 percent in Central or West Africa, and 2.9 percent in Southern Africa.
While the majority of collaboration is done with American and European institutions, there is also a clear trend of countries working with their former colonizers. For instance, former British colonies work more with researchers in the U.K., while Francophone African countries are more likely to work with France.
In sub-Saharan Africa, 45 percent of all research is dedicated to health, reflecting the immense health challenges faced by countries in the region. In addition, international funding focuses heavily on health and agricultural research in Africa, leaving little extra funding for other issues. Funding for health research has increased by approximately 4 percent each year in sub-Saharan Africa.
STEM research that focuses on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, represents just 29 percent of the region’s research output. With the exception of South Africa, STEM research has declined about 0.2 percent each year since 2002. In South Africa, STEM research has increased by 15 percent over the last decade.
The education system in sub-Saharan Africa is heavily weighted towards humanities and social science disciplines, leaving little room in budgets for math and science education. International research funding is more skewed to health and agriculture.
Countries in South Asia, South East Asia and China have a surplus of scientists, engineers and doctors that received training early in their countries’ development. By contrast, African countries have up to 1,000 times less scientists, representing a major roadblock to scientific research and development.
Approximately 40 percent of African-born scientists live in OECD countries (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), particularly in North America and Europe. This phenomenon, known as the brain drain, is in large part due to the fact that talented scientists are lured — or seek — better-paying jobs overseas.
South Africa is undoubtedly the leader when it comes to quantity of scientific research produced in sub-Saharan Africa, which is not entirely surprising given that it has the highest gross domestic product among its neighbors. However, West, Central and East Africa are slightly more productive in terms of articles produced per million dollars. It would be expected, however, that higher GDPs would result in higher productivity with regard to scientific research, and more investment in science education in particular.
Due to the lack of resources in many African countries for proper education, many scientists and practitioners travel overseas to study. However, this limits opportunities to gain practical experience in Africa-specific realms, such as with exotic tree species that are only found on the continent for those researching forest policy and science.
The need for African countries to become stronger contributors to scientific research is compounded by explosive population growth. Africa is expected to have more than a third of the world’s population by the end of the century. Members of the international research community hope that current trends of increasing research continue in Africa, and that African countries become leaders in scientific fields.
