Minister of Infrastructure, Science and Technology of Botswana, the Hon. Nonofo Molefhi
Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research of Madagascar, the Hon. Marie Monique Rasoazananera
Vice Minister of Science and Technology of Mozambique, Dr Leda Florinda Hugo
Minister of Science, Technology and Vocational Training of Zambia, the Hon. Dr Michael Kaingu
Permanent Secretary of Education and Human Resources, Tertiary Education and Scientific Research from Mauritius, Ms Nema Devi Goorah
Permanent Secretary of Namibian Ministry of Education, Mr Alfred Iiukena
Dr Phil Mjwara, Director-General of the South African Department of Science and Technology
Dr Bernie Fanaroff, outgoing Director: SKA South Africa and the incoming Director Dr Rob Adam
It is a pleasure to welcome you all to South Africa again, for the second meeting of the Square Kilometre Array African partner countries.
A few days ago, I attended a meeting of BRICS science and technology ministers in Brazil. At the meeting hosted in South Africa last year, it was indicated that a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in science, technology and innovation would be signed in Brasilia this year. I am delighted to report that this important agreement, one of the very first intergovernmental agreements to be signed by BRICS members, was signed. Science, technology and innovation are also leading the way in the BRICS group.
We look forward to sharing with you how we will use this agreement to assist the continent to address challenges like climate change, natural disasters, pollution and renewable energy, and to improve the management of natural resources such as water.
It is important to note that BRICS, recognising the importance of the SKA, has designated South Africa to lead cooperation in the area of astronomy. China and India are already active partners in the SKA project, and Brazil and the Russian Federation have expressed their strong interest to be involved. These are important developments. for the continent as we prepare to host the world's largest and most sensitive radio telescope.
Last month South Africa's Deputy President and the ambassadors of SKA member countries from Europe, North America, Asia, Australasia and Africa visited the SKA core site near Carnarvon. A few days later, the SKA Board of Directors unanimously agreed to move the project forward to its final preconstruction phase. The first phase of the SKA, worth a capital investment of €650 million, consisting of two complementary world-class instruments – one in Australia, and one in South Africa – is now defined. Both instruments are expected to deliver exciting and transformational science.
The construction of the world's largest radio telescope will take place in two phases. In phase 1 about 200 parabolic antennas will be erected in South Africa, while Australia will have more than 100 000 dipole antennas, which resemble television aerials. Phase 2 will extend the array into other African countries, with the Australian component also being expanded.
We are confident that the construction of the SKA will start in 2018, and it is predicted that early science observations will be made in 2020.
I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the SKA South Africa team for the ongoing construction of the antennas for the MeerKAT telescope, our 64-dish precursor telescope, which will be integrated into the SKA. The science will start when 32 dishes are commissioned by 2016, with the full array ready by the middle of 2017. We are thrilled that the investment made by the South African government in science is beginning to attract international investment from institutions of the calibre of Germany's Max Planck Society, which has committed €11 million to build S-Band receivers – used primarily for pulsar research – and fund all the necessary ancillary equipment for the MeerKAT.
How, then, do we build on some of these initiatives to give effect to the Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA) , and put science, technology and innovation at the centre of our continent's development trajectory?
We hope that, through human capital development, innovation, value addition and industrialisation in alignment with STISA, we will be able to uplift large sections of Africa's people. Diversifying our economies and broadening our sources of growth and sustenance will help us to address poverty and foster both social transformation and economic competitiveness on the continent. As an excellent vehicle for human capital development, as well as for innovation key technologies such as the ICT sector, and most notably for the big data economy, SKA Africa has a key role to play in supporting the implementation of STISA.
In South Africa, government's contribution to human capital development includes bursaries for undergraduate and postgraduate studies, and the funding of research chairs, including five in the area of radio astronomy. These positions have attracted some of the world’s leading astronomers to South Africa. Since 2006 we have spent a total of over R29 [TADH1] million on bursaries in engineering, astrophysics and astronomy for students from our African partner countries.
The recent 1st African Higher Education Summit, held in Senegal under the theme "Revitalising higher education for Africa’s future", confirmed the need to create a continental strategy to transform the African higher education sector, and focus on the establishment of high-level, cutting-edge research.
This is in line with the African Union's Agenda 2063, which seeks to create a framework for inclusive growth and sustainable development, and a global strategy to optimise the use of Africa’s resources for the benefit of all Africans. Among other things, the declaration and action plan adopted in Senegal call for the expansion of the higher education sector through investments in academic staff, infrastructure and facilities by the state, the private sector and society. Again the SKA project in Africa will help to play an enabling role to achieve these objectives.
The aim is to identify and develop 200 African universities to constitute a hub of excellence relevant to the needs of African development by 2063. The Summit Declaration also committed to building capacity in research, science, technology and innovation, and to mobilising the African Diaspora in developing a programme that sponsors 1 000 scholars from the Diaspora across all disciplines every year, for 10 years to African universities and colleges for collaboration in research, curriculum development, and graduate student teaching and mentoring. The programme also aims to address gender parity.
South Africa has also been assigned the rights to host the Pan African University’s Institute for Space Science, where astronomy will be one of the several foci. We are currently investigating an appropriate model for hosting this important component of the PAU, one of the African Union’s flagship initiatives, which will benefit the continent and help develop the research capacity in space science and astronomy on the continent.
At the last SKA African Partner Countries Ministerial Meeting we adopted the Pretoria Resolution, committing ourselves to finalising the SKA Readiness Strategy and Joint Implementation Plan by the end of this month, in preparation for hosting the SKA and the African VLBI Network. We also agreed to work towards a governance framework for radio astronomy initiatives, in particular the SKA and AVN projects, and towards formally constituting the SKA Ministerial Forum, which will be convened on an annual basis to provide political and strategic leadership to African SKA partner countries on the AVN, SKA and other relevant astronomy programmes and initiatives.
As African SKA and AVN partner countries we are also committed to participating effectively in the Joint Africa-EU strategic partnership and African-European Radio Astronomy Platform (AERAP) programmes and activities. In this context, we should work rapidly to finalise our funding proposal for the new Pan African Instrument created by the European Union to support large-scale science and infrastructure partnerships between the two countries.
Our senior officials have been meeting over the last two days to take stock of where we are with regard to these resolutions, and will be providing us with various reports for our consideration and approval. Our progress on the AVN has been slower than expected, and we need to up our game if we are to get more funding from external partners including South Africa’s African Renaissance Fund. In our next request to the Fund to support the establishment of AVN dishes in your countries, we will also seek support to assist efforts in establishing a continent-wide AVN network, under the guidance of the AU Commission. The AVN instrument will eventually support scientific research across the whole continent but, apart from South Africa, only Ghana has made good progress with regard to the conversion of antennas for radio astronomy.
As I conclude, I wish to remind you that when South Africa hosts the African Union Summit in June this year, our leaders will be able to report the role that we are playing in the implementation of the Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa, in particular with regard to human capital development, and our progress on the AVN and the SKA. This will be in accordance with commitments to the SKA project expressed in the declarations made at the AU's General Assemblies in both 2010 and 2012.
The SKA remains an important African endeavour, with huge potential to contribute to and raise the profile of science, technology and innovation development on the continent.
Thank you.
