More academic programmes in nuclear science and technology must be established, and coherent strategies to curb ‘brain drain’ of African experts must be developed, if the full potential of nuclear technology for development is to be maximised in Africa. These were the conclusions of 23 Vice Chancellors of universities across 16 countries in Africa and representatives of regional and international academic bodies who met from 17 to 19 June in Marrakech, Morocco, to develop practical measures and explore potential collaboration to address regional human resource capacity gaps in this field.
Meeting participants discussed and agreed on collaboration modalities in order to implement new nuclear science and technology graduate and post-graduate academic programmes in accredited universities in Africa.
They also adopted a practical recommendation on future collaboration with UNESCO, the World Academy of Sciences, the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) and the Harbin Engineering University (HEU), to increase the number of trained graduates and post-graduates.
The attending Vice Chancellors agreed to establish a prize to promote the involvement of women in science and technology and to develop a mentorship programme to encourage greater cooperation among the participating universities.
The meeting was hosted by the Government of Morocco through its National Centre for Energy, Sciences and Nuclear Techniques (CNESTEN), and aimed to build upon the achievements of an earlier event held in June 2018.
For many Member States in the Africa region, their application of nuclear science and technologies (NST) is limited by a shortage of qualified professionals, particularly female professionals. This shortage is caused in part by the comparative dearth of nuclear education and training opportunities on the continent—in lieu of continuing their studies at a domestic university, trainees are often forced to rely on foreign academic institutions and on training provided in other regions.
Responding to this need, the IAEA launched a regional technical cooperation (TC) project[1], within the framework of the AFRA Agreement. A preliminary meeting in 2018 concluded with the launching of a PhD Sandwich Fellowship Programme, whose enrolees are expected to lead NST programmes in tertiary institutions, to promote further research and development, and to contribute to the effective management of the IAEA’s technical cooperation programme in Africa.
