Science and technology helped Western nations achieve their current levels of development, but the same transforming effect is yet to happen in Africa. A key challenge for African countries is to work out how much to invest in science and then how to allocate these investments, says a new paper co-authored by PhD fellow Hugo Confraria. Africa’s share of global scientific output has clearly improved in the last decade, up from 1.6% in 2004 to 2.6% in 2013. On the one hand, this shows the continen...

Some Western policymakers see China as a threat to their work in Africa. But when taking a dynamic perspective, as in this working paper, Chinese and Western activities can be seen as complementary. In this way, an entirely different picture emerges. This paper discusses the entry of China into the game of foreign finance in Africa. It analyses the scope, destination and sectoral distribution of Chinese financial flows and trade in comparison with Western patterns and trends of aid, foreign dire...

We had five PhD defences in June 2014, covering government policies for highly skilled migrants, education and health in Senegal, housing in Uganda, government reform in Kosovo, and innovation in Latin America. See the events calendar and boxes below for more details. This page will be updated after each event....

It’s the “International Year of Family Farming” and time we realized that families are key to rural development in Africa. Smallholders manage 80 per cent of African farmland, often doing a lot more than tilling the land. Homes and markets are full of family entrepreneurs, working in everything from entertainment to hairdressing to repairs. So we think that 2014 should also highlight the work of non-farm businesses. In the 1960s and 70s these small businesses were low productive, survivalist act...

UN University Rector David M. Malone signed the Host Country Agreement for a new UNU Institute on 4 March 2014 with Senegalese Foreign Minister Mankeur Ndiaye. This is a further step in a long-term process between UNU-MERIT in Maastricht and CRES in Dakar. Set to become a key UNU hub in Francophone Africa, the centre will work on sustainable growth and development with a particular focus on innovation and structural transformation. The signing ceremony was attended by CRES Executive Director Pro...

Our press review features the latest publications by UNU-MERIT and its School of Governance, as well as mentions in the media. Output for February includes nine working papers, a policy brief and a journal paper, covering among others things nanotech cancer therapies, semiconductor life cycles, and R&D constraints and patent quality. Our research spans the globe, covering more than 20 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and several more across Central and East Asia. ‘Political versus Economic In...

Will African nations choose their own development paths, moving away from former colonial powers? How should we interpret China’s efforts to increase its presence in Africa? Does it pose a threat to African populations or is it an opportunity for change? These are among the questions of a “debate café” held in Maastricht on 25 February 2014. The debate features panel members from UNU-MERIT, including Profs. Adam Szirmai and Wim Naudé, as well as PhD Fellow Tobias Broich. Background A...

How can we nurture eco-innovation in developing countries? How can we support the market for renewable energy technology? How can we assist energy efficiency initiatives, particularly in agriculture and industry? At a conference in Berlin hosted by the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), Prof. René Kemp spoke about the strategies needed to support eco-innovation in emerging economies. During his keynote speech, 27 January 20...

The conference ‘Sustainable Growth and Development in Africa’, Dakar, 25-26 November 2013, aimed to create a bridge between research, policy and practice and to promote evidence based policy making. It was attended by researchers from various countries, mostly African, as well as policy makers and other development agents. The event was opened by Senegal’s Minister of Higher Education and Research, Prof. Mary Tew Niane, who stressed the need for evidence based policy making to promote sust...

The year ends with two more lectures in our joint seminar series. On Monday 16 December, Prof. Manuel Mira Godinho presents “The Impact of African Science: A Bibliometric Analysis”. He argues that African research output has grown faster than the world average since 2004, while doubling in number and having higher impact than similar publications from Russia, India or Brazil. However, the continent’s production remains highly concentrated in South Africa and Egypt, both in terms of p...