South Sudan urges EAC to promote science, technology for development

The Undersecretary in the Ministry of East African Community Affairs Beny Gideon Mabor has called on member states of the East African Community to encourage and promote science and technology to accelerate economic growth and development in the region.
Undersecretary in the Ministry of East African Community Affairs Beny Gideon Mabor (Middle) speaks during the STI conference in Nairobi.

By Awan Achiek

The Undersecretary in the Ministry of East African Community Affairs Beny Gideon Mabor has called on member states of the East African Community to encourage and promote science and technology to accelerate economic growth and development in the region.

“At the equal measure, we cannot achieve science, technology and innovation (STI) objectives with poor or limited infrastructure. This calls for our governments and development partners to put more financial resources to building the STI infrastructure at all levels,” Mabor said on Friday during the closure of the three-day conference in Nairobi, Kenya.

“I take this opportunity to call upon the EAC institutions responsible for the implementation of STI agenda to dissect these recommendations into 15 multifactorial bodies of the EAC, so that the monitoring and evaluation is at closer note,” he added.

Mabor emphasized that science, technology and innovation strategies should be at the center stage of the EAC’s journey towards fourth industrial revolution.

“In particular,  linking the indigenous knowledgeable and technology development with our daily lives is considered as positive engagement of our communities in their contextual development processes and contribute to building strong partnerships,” he said.

Mabor disclosed that the use of indigenous knowledge and technology in many EAC partner states have contributed in achieving deliverables such as food production, herbal medicine production, land use and management.

“On science, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) agenda, this is something we all aspire to advance because it helps not only our science students but equally our professionals in physical science discipline to be problem solvers through critical thinking, research and innovation,” he said.

Mabor urged all tertiary institutions of learning to develop programmatic curriculum to enable the graduates to be rapidly job creators and more importantly to ensure they have chances of being employable in the labor markets.

“On the strategy regarding innovation, technology and transfer, this is something incredible for economic transformation. Today, many countries have already advanced on digital economy and business technologies as appropriate tools for economic growth, and sustainable development,” he said.

The Executive Secretary of the East African Science and Technology Commission (EASTECO), Dr. Sylvance Okoth, disclosed that EASTECO has developed STI policies, strategies and regulations to operationalise various aspects of various EAC policy instruments in its quest to promote the development, management and application of science and technology in Partner States.

“This STI conference is therefore one of the interventions through which science and technology promotes the EAC integration agenda, as it accords stakeholders an opportunity to come together to exchange scientific information, and in the process, create new linkages and strengthen bonds of collaboration,” Okoth said.

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