The National Research Foundation has recently developed strategies to broaden and deepen its engagement on the African continent
A PhD is considered a pinnacle qualification, as it is seen to broaden the frontiers of knowledge, enabling the possibility of self-employment and job creation, and providing the basis for an innovative and entrepreneurial knowledge society.
Africa has been falling behind the rest of the developing world in terms of economic and social development, and is the continent with the highest incidence of poverty. Approximately a third of the world’s people living in extreme poverty is found on this continent, with more than a quarter of all Africans being undernourished.
This year is truly significant as the world considered the UN Millennium Development Goals. The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted during September, call for no poverty, zero hunger and quality education.
The central role of the modern research university within this context of the global knowledge economy is generally accepted. Across Africa, governments are increasingly recognising the role of tertiary education in development, and for science to serve society in solving pervasive problems.
In 2014, the Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa — (STISA-2024) — was accepted by heads of state and governments. Under the auspices of the newly launched African Union Agenda 2063, “The Africa We Want”, political support for the role of science, technology and innovation has reached an apex. Full advantage must be taken of this concentration of high-level political will to acknowledge the contribution of science, technology and quality higher education to edge the continent closer to becoming competitive in a global knowledge economy.
Over the past two decades the rate at which scientific papers were produced globally doubled; in rapidly expanding economies the rate of publications has more than doubled in the past 10 years. This rapid expansion is not reflected in African universities.
Sub-Saharan Africa contributes only 0.7% to the world’s scientific output and this percentage has decreased in recent decades. Underdeveloped research functions at institutions created constraining environments within which postgraduate (in particular doctoral education) could not flourish.
Current low enrolment and graduation rates at PhD level, as well as low levels of translation from master’s to doctoral level studies are indicative of this status quo. Essentially, institutions across Africa lack the capacity to produce knowledge at the requisite rate, and without substantial increases in human capacity Africa will continue to fall even further behind in terms of contributions to knowledge.
The PhD is an essential key driver for capacity development. From the South African perspective, to achieve global competitiveness the number of PhDs produced per annum must increase from approximately 1 900 to 5 000 by 2030. This will represent an increase of the current 39 to 100 PhDs per million of the population annually. In the international context, countries with vibrant science and technology systems produce between 150 and 250 PhDs per million of the population per year (e.g. Korea: 187; Australia: 264; Sweden: 427).
It is anticipated that this increase in PhDs will translate into significant increases in publication output, to the point where South Africa increases its contribution from the current 0.55% to 1% of the global research and development output annually. To achieve this increased output, South African universities will require an increased number of appropriately qualified staff to supervise this increasing pool of doctoral candidates. The National Development Plan (NDP) of South Africa acknowledges this challenge by proposing an increase in academic staff with PhDs from the current 34% to 70% by 2030.
To further strengthen a robust network for human capital development on the continent, South Africa, through the department of science and technology and the National Research Foundation, has bilateral co-operation agreements on science and technology with 21 African countries, nine of which have joint research calls with South Africa. The nine active bilateral agreements have resulted in 180 jointly funded projects, with an estimated joint contribution of over R80-million over the past five years. The nature of each agreement is determined by the needs of the country involved and covers a wide variety of thematic areas and disciplines. The National Research Foundation has recently developed strategies to broaden and deepen its engagements on the African continent. These include inter alia strengthening science-granting councils, increasing programmes supporting African master’s and PhD students, and innovative funding modalities to internationalise South Africa’s research platform.
Continued and sustained investment in human capital is pivotal in creating regional and continental partnerships to advance Africa’s growth and development.
Professor Frans Swanepoel is deputy vice-chancellor: Research and Innovation at the University of the Western Cape
Professor Aldo Stroebel is executive director: International Relations and Co-operation at the National Research Foundation