技术变革一直是发达国家与发展中国家之间最大的鸿沟之一。科学领域的重量级人物通常都包括经济实力最强的国家。据世界银行统计，美国、德国和日本每年在研发 上的投入均占GDP的 2.8% 以上。然而，21 世纪的全球经济发展刺激了全球对研发的投资增加，因为科学技术在全球经济中的重要性日益提升。非洲大陆也开始参与到这个不断发展的领域，与此同时，新的教育基础设施造就了一支有前途的年轻科学劳动力队伍。学术界和工业界的领袖们现在试图动员这些聪明的年轻人，共同发出一个口号：“用非洲解决方案解决非洲问题。”
众所周知，非洲的经济和教育体系面临着历史性的劣势。殖民主义在政治和经济上的衰落使大多数非洲新独立国家陷入剧烈的政治动荡和严重的资源匮乏，几乎无法实现稳定与发展。在 21 世纪，整个非洲大陆的非洲人正在改变这一现状。当代南非艺术家玛丽·西班德、周游世界的尼日利亚演说家兼小说家奇玛曼达·恩戈齐·阿迪奇和百万富翁、苏丹裔英国慈善家穆·易卜拉欣都通过成为众人瞩目的焦点为非洲参与者开辟了空间。这种新的“自己动手”战略无疑在经济和政治上统一了非洲大陆。“非洲问题，非洲方案”最初是与非洲联盟密切相关的口号，现在也适用于科学，在职业发展和教育投资的浪潮中将产业、学术界和政治思想家联系起来。
许多学术界和工业界的领导人采取了国际和集体的方式，力求动员新一代决策者、科学家和工程师解决非洲的问题，从失业和教育不足到迫在眉睫的气候变化和可持续发展危机。几十年来，许多机构和倡议一直致力于非洲大陆科学家和研究人员的培训和专业发展，其中包括撒哈拉以南非洲的非洲科学技术机构网络。非洲大陆的其他此类网络，包括非洲数学科学研究所和非洲基础物理及其应用学院，在非洲各地选拔和培训小班非洲学生，进一步推动了非洲科学资产的集体化。
然而，由于主要期刊读者集中在美国和类似国家，这些新机构的非洲研究人员的工作很少得到全球关注。在这个行业中，专利和出版物不仅使研究领域合法化，而且可以成就或毁掉职业生涯，因此不为人知是职业发展的一大障碍。经济和政治机会最终迫使许多受过培训的人才移民，导致大规模人才流失。
为了阻止训练有素的人才外流，科学界的领导人正在通过行动和言论来推广非洲解决方案。《科学非洲》是一本泛非洲同行评议期刊，于 2018 年推出，旨在传播、推广和突出非洲大陆和世界各地的非洲研究。该杂志由非洲数学科学研究所 (AIMS) 发起的下一个爱因斯坦论坛 (NEF) 出版，该论坛致力于将非洲科学和政策与全球科学界联系起来，特别是通过赋予年轻人权力。最近，该组织协调了非洲科学周，以团结非洲大陆追求科学发展。这些努力继续代表着非洲大陆科学复兴日益增长的能量。用 NEF 的话来说：“我们相信下一个爱因斯坦将是非洲人。”
除了倡导组织，各个领域的专家也谈到了尚未开发的潜力。在 2019 年关于 IPCC 最新全球变暖预测报告的一次采访中，法国国家发展研究所高级研究主任 Arona Diedhiou 指出：“长期以来，国际层面提出的可持续发展方案与非洲当地的现实之间存在着差距……现在是时候进行范式转变，以便提出由非洲人制定的、针对非洲的解决方案。”在描述未来几年非洲大陆面临的气候挑战时，Diedhiou 还强调了教育和激励年轻人的可能性。
虽然这些机构、组织和领导者在专业发展方面发挥了重要作用，但必须考虑它们的缺点。通过延续“最优秀人才”的选拔和提升，这些系统有可能加剧地方人才流失。如果没有同等重要的支持团队、实验室设施和金融投资，训练有素的科学家就无法取得进步；他们可以轻松地搬迁到有这些资源的地方。但并非一切都失去了。在加强研发基础设施方面，非洲科学界有几个意想不到的优势：渴望教育和就业的年轻人群体迅速增长，气候变化的压力需要创新解决方案。
不管世界其他国家怎么看，随着 21 世纪的到来，非洲的科学抱负只会越来越大。尽管非洲大陆的历史中存在着政治和经济上的困难，但非洲领导人正在翻开新的一页。非洲复兴就在眼前。它将带来一个多么奇妙的世界。
Africa’s Growing Scientific Communities: A New Renaissance
Technological change has always been one of the largest dividers between developed and developing countries. The scientific heavy-hitters have traditionally included the most economically powerful nations. According to the World Bank, every year, the United States, Germany, and Japan all spend upwards of 2.8 percent of GDP on research and development. However, global economic development in the 21st century has spurred increased investment in research and development worldwide, as science and technology have become increasingly critical in the global economy. The African continent has begun to take part in this growing sector as well, at a time when new infrastructure in education has created a promising young scientific workforce. Leaders in academia and industry now seek to mobilize these bright young minds towards a unifying rallying cry: “African solutions to African problems.”
The historical disadvantages faced by Africa’s economic and educational systems are well-known. The political and economic withering of colonialism left most of Africa’s new independent states struggling with violent political upheavals and devastating resource scarcities, allowing little stability or development. In the 21st century, Africans across the continent are changing that narrative. Contemporary South African artist Mary Sibande, globetrotting Nigerian speaker and novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and millionaire Sudanese-British philanthropist Mo Ibrahim are carving out spaces for African players by claiming the spotlight. This new do-it-yourself strategy has certainly unified the continent economically and politically. Originally a mantra strongly associated with the African Union, “African solutions to African problems” has come to apply to science as well, bridging industries, academics, and political thinkers in a wave of professional development and educational investment.
Many leaders in academia and industry have taken an international and collective approach that seeks to mobilize a new generation of policymakers, scientists, and engineers towards solving Africa’s problems, from unemployment and limited education to the looming crisis of climate change and sustainable development. For decades, numerous institutions and initiatives have been working on the training and professional development of scientists and researchers on the continent, including the network of African Institutions of Science and Technology in Sub-Saharan Africa. Other such networks across the continent, including the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences and the African School of Fundamental Physics and its Applications, select and train small classes of African students at various locations across the continent, furthering the collectivization of Africa’s scientific assets.
However, due to the centralization of major journal readerships in the United States and similar countries, African researchers at these newer institutions receive little global exposure for their work. In an industry where patents and publications not only legitimize research areas but also make or break careers, invisibility is a large obstacle to professional growth. Economic and political opportunity ultimately drive many trained individuals to emigrate, contributing to brain drain on a massive scale.
In order to stem the outflow of trained talent, leaders in the scientific community are promoting the African solutions approach through action as well as rhetoric. The Scientific African, a pan-African peer-reviewed journal, was launched in 2018 to circulate, promote, and highlight African research within the continent and around the world. It is being published by the Next Einstein Forum (NEF), an initiative of the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), which has worked to connect African science and policy with the global scientific community, particularly through the empowerment of young people. Recently, the organization coordinated an Africa Science Week to unify the continent in the pursuit of scientific development. These efforts continue to represent the energy growing on the continent for a scientific renaissance. In the words of the NEF: “We believe the next Einstein will be African.”
In addition to advocacy organizations, experts in various fields speak about untapped potential. In a 2019 interview about the latest IPCC global warming prediction report, Arona Diedhiou, Senior Research Director at the French National Research Institute for Development, argued that “For a long time, there has been a gulf between the sustainable development options suggested at the international level and the local African realities…. It is time for a paradigm shift in order to propose solutions for Africa, developed by Africans.” And describing the climate challenges that face the continent in the coming years, Diedhiou also stressed the possibility of educating and energizing young people.
While these institutions, organizations, and leaders have been instrumental in the growth of professional development, it is important to consider their drawbacks. By perpetuating the selection and elevation of “the best of the best,” these systems have the potential to exacerbate brain drain on a local level. Well-trained scientists cannot achieve progress without comparably valued support teams, laboratory facilities, and financial investments; they can easily relocate to where those resources are available. But all is not lost. To bolster R&D infrastructure, the African scientific community has a couple of unexpected advantages: a rapidly growing population of young people hungry for education and employment, and the pressure of climate change necessitating innovative solutions.
Despite what the rest of the world may believe, Africa’s scientific aspirations are only growing as the 21st century goes on. In spite of the political and economic hardships embedded in the fabric of the continent’s history, leaders are turning the page. The African Renaissance is upon us. What a wondrous world it will bring.