Summary
by John M. Malin, Ph. D.
International Activities Administrator
American Chemical Society
The status of Chemistry on the African Continent
Only two countries in Africa, Egypt and
South Africa, are members of IUPAC. There is clearly a need to increase
African participation. Prof. Jortner, quoting from an excellent report
written for IUPAC by Dr. C.F. Garbers, noted that while Africa includes
62% of the world's developing countries, the distribution
of development is not homogeneous. Some 29 of the 51 countries published
less than 10 abstracted journal articles in 1996 while Egypt published
2560 in the same year. Among the 45 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa,
only three produced the great majority of published research articles
in chemistry. They were South Africa (1359 abstracts), Nigeria (384)
and Kenya (97). No abstracts were cited from five countries and another
twenty-one countries produced less than ten abstracts each. Rising
university enrollments (mostly in the Arts) and stagnant budgets have
caused average per-student expenditures to fall from $6,300 in 1970
to $1,500 by 1988.
Dr. Garbers recommended that if IUPAC wishes
to embark on further initiatives, a detailed study should be made
of an area which is served by so many agencies. He noted that the
Committee on Teaching of Chemistry has new and important initiatives
to contribute . He suggested that IUPAC, being active in all
fields of chemistry and with extensive expertise in publication, could
become involved in the preparation of texts for training and reference
in selected fields of importance in developing countries. These might
include water quality, human health, food analysis and access to chemical
information. Also, the work of CHEMRAWN should be extended to techno-economic
analysis of countries and regions to identify potential industrial
and market initiatives.
Dr. Garbers noted further that, while neither
IUPAC nor UNESCO is a major funding organization, together they have
the ability to provide direction-giving inputs. One possible approach
is outlined in the recommendations made by the recent report of the
IUPAC Task Team of African chemists convened in 1997. The Task Team
recommended that IUPAC/UNESCO coordinate a Pan-African chemistry development
project, implementing recommendations that will come from a series
of five regional workshops. The workshops will involve all African
countries, which will be invited to assess the types of support and
other inputs necessary. Major funding will be sought from local governments
and national and international development agencies.
Dr. Garbers emphasized that there is a tendency
to generalize about Africa, yet huge differences exist among countries
and institutions. Many uncertainties and deficiencies exist in higher
education, which remains elitist and selective in the admission of
students. The rising demand for access to higher education is prompting
reconsideration of the university's role in Africa. However, the outcome
may ultimately be dependent on political decisions by local governments.
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Page last modified 15 December 1998.
Copyright © 1997, 98 International Union of Pure and Applied
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