Africa Charter For Transformation Research Collaboration has been launched. The Charter which was launched in Windhoek, Namibia during the Conference of Rectors, Vice Chancellors and Presidents of African Universities is to ensure that Africa takes its rightful place in the production of scientific knowledge for the continent and the rest of the world.

Lead Researcher from the Perivoli Africa Research Centre, Isabella Aboderin said the charter sets out key principles for how research collaborations between Africa and those outside the continent need to be configured to transform the ecosystem.

According to her the global scientific ecosystem in Africa is severely imbalanced and it is currently unfavourable to the continent of Africa.

Africa As Global Comunity

“We must make room for alternatives if Africa must tackle the crisis and upheavals we collectively face as a global community. It is this larger global context that will ensure that this time Africa is raising concerns that the continent will be able to move forward”

“If we start changing the global science through Africa research Africa will begin to take its rightful place in the global political economy and where Africa sits in this global economy has huge implications for the average African because it determines how it economies are structured , trade flows and prices of commodities, all these directly affect the common man on the continent”

The Secretary General of the Association of African Universities, Prof. Olushola Oyewole, says Africa's belief in the tenets of equitable collaboration for future research will deliver excellence in the implementation of the Africa charter for Transformation Research Collaboration.

Prof. Oyewole emphasized that the charter will set out the best standards to follow when African universities enter any research collaboration with any institutions of the world.

Endorsements Of Charter

The Secretary General of the Association of West Africa Universities and the Vice-chancellor of the University of Ilorin in Nigeria, Prof. Wahab Egbewole, said that the Charter will create opportunities for all parties collaborating in research to have better relationships.

According to Prof. Egbewole, a better relationship of equality would be fostered through implementation.

“The signing of the charter today indicates that even if the funds for the research is coming from the west, the charter would insist that the data will be generated from Africa and the researchers that would work on this will also be African researchers”

“It reflects that Africa scholars will now be better positioned on research in Africa”.

It is crucial to mention that the Africa Charter on Research has now been endorsed by CODESRIA, the Commonwealth of Universities, the AU , the African Research Universities Alliance, UK Research Institutes ,Canadian Research organisations , and other AAU partners across the world.

The Africa Research Charter on collaboration however sets out for change in policy and regulatory frameworks at the level of each African country while it also establishes transformative collaborations as standard practice.

Dominica Nwabufo

Presidents of African Universities signed in Windhoek the newly launched Africa Charter on Collaborative Research and Transformation.