The Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Vera Songwe, has called for the creation of an African Technology Development and Transfer Network to stimulate innovation and accelerate development on the continent.

The challenge was launched last week at the opening of the 4th African Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Forum in Kigali, Rwanda.

He felt that, an African technology development and transfer forum could identify emerging technologies, anticipate needs and encourage knowledge sharing across the continent, as it would be at the center of technology diffusion to the continent's Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

"We need to build strong scientific, technological and innovation foundations to enable STI to deliver results. As we have witnessed recently, many of our countries needed support to develop capabilities to test Covid-19," Songwe said.

He justified that with the collapse of the global supply chain, Africa's over-reliance on imported medical equipment has left the continent vulnerable in many ways and forced to innovate.

The African STI Forum is a multilateral collaborative event on science, technology and innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) established in accordance with the 2030 Agenda, as part of the Technology Facilitation Mechanism.

The mechanism was established under the Addis Ababa action agenda and was launched by Agenda 2030 to assist in the implementation of the SDGs and is organized by the UN Inter-Agency Task Team on Science, Technology and Innovation for the SDGs.

Rwanda's Education Minister Valentine Uwamariya explained that bringing together some of Africa's best and most experienced minds will find ways in which the continent can use science and technology to achieve these goals in less than a decade.

UNESCO's regional director for East Africa, Hubert Gijzen, emphasized the importance of collaboration "We need cooperation between countries for Open Science. That's why UNESCO launched the First International Open Science Framework that 193 member states approved," he said.

The STI meeting takes place on the sidelines of the eighth African Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD8) - an annual multi-stakeholder platform organized by ECA and the Government of Rwanda in collaboration with the African Union Commission, the African Development Bank and other entities of the United Nations systems.

ARFSD8 took place last week, with the theme "Building Better: A green, inclusive and resilient Africa, ready to achieve Agenda 2030 and Agenda 2063".