The Minister of Science and Technology, Naledi Pandor, will sign bilateral science and technology agreements on behalf of the South Africa government on 6 and 7 November 2014.
The Ethiopian Minister of Science and Technology, Demitu Hambisa, will represent her government at the signing in Addis Ababa on Thursday, and the Sudanese Federal Minister of Science and Communications, Dr Tahani Abdalla Attia, will represent Sudanin Khartoum on Friday.
Background on agreement between South Africa and Ethiopia
South Africa and Ethiopia's scientific relations began in 2014, with a technical visit undertaken by Ethiopian officials to determine the possibilities for bilateral cooperation. Several research areas of mutual interest were identified, including information and communication technologies, innovation hubs, irrigation equipment testing, water-harvesting technologies, climate monitoring, capacity building, animal health, biotechnology, geographical mapping, intellectual property rights in respect of indigenous plants, and nutrition. Recently identified areas include training technicians to maintain scientific equipment, centres of excellence, livestock development, and the exchange of scientists and researchers. All the above areas will be included in the agreement signed on 6 November. The signing of the agreement will be followed by the development of joint action plans, detailing specific areas of cooperation to be implemented in the 2015/16 financial year.
Background on agreement between South Africa and Sudan
South Africa and Sudan established diplomatic ties in 1994 and have since maintained good relations as a result of the role South Africa played in the peace and reconciliation process between Sudan and South Sudan.
In as far as science and technology are concerned, cooperation between the two countries began in 1994 with the signing of a memorandum of understanding on agricultural research. A visit by the Sudanese Minister of Science in 2004 sparked further interest in collaboration in various fields of agricultural, medical, energy and social sciences. In 2005, the two countries agreed on a draft science and technology agreement, which was unfortunately never signed because of the process of the cessation of South Sudan from Sudan.
The signing of the bilateral agreement in Khartoum on 7 November is the finalisation of discussions that started almost a decade ago. The bilateral agreement will include cooperation in areas of agriculture and animal resources, nanotechnology, health, energy and space science, as well as other crossing-cutting areas such as intellectual property, and the benchmarking and development of science, technology and innovation policy.
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Lunga Ngqengelele
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