Dr. Yaw Bediako

Africa needs more scientists… but also needs its scientist to talk to one another- The African Science Initiative.
Since the launch of the Millennium Development Goals in 2000, many countries in Africa have recorded significant improvements in a number of key development indices. Net enrolment in primary school education increased by 20% between 2000 and 2015 and maternal and all-cause child mortality have also significantly decreased over this period (MDG Report 2015, United Nations). There has also been a significant increase in funding for scientific research aimed at addressing issues faced by people in Africa, with most of this funding going towards medical research and interventions targeting AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. As a result, the numbers of HIV infected people receiving antiretroviral therapy has increased by over 14 million since 2000 and over 900 million insecticide treated bed-nets have been distributed (MDG Report 2015, United Nations).

Dr. Alphonsus Neba and Prof. Gordon Awandare

Ten years ago, Dr Lily Paemka left Ghana for the US to pursue her PhD studies and stayed. Her talent and skills could have been lost to Ghana forever had the West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP) not been established. With support from the World Bank’s African Centres of Excellence project and now the Developing Excellence in Leadership, Training and Science (DELTAS) Africa scheme, WACCBIP has set up world class research infrastructure that allows Paemka to conduct the quality research she aspires for to be recognised and established in her field. So she has relocated back home to research on a type of breast cancer that is the most aggressive among Ghanaian women.