PhD in Science and Technology Policy Studies. Former: Executive Secretary, UN Convention on Biological Diversity, Montreal; Founding Executive Director, African Centre for Technology Studies, Nairobi; Chancellor, University of Guyana. Currently: Professor, Practice of International Development, Harvard Kennedy School; Co-Chair, High-Level Panel on Science, Technology and Innovation, African Union, Addis Ababa.
Africa, which imports nearly 83% of the food it consumes, has a real chicken and egg problem. The continent is caught between pressure from imports in some countries and an inability to m...
The slump in commodity prices and the associated economic uncertainties are forcing African countries to explore new development strategies that are more durable. One obvious shift is inv...
The entire world felt the shock waves from the decision by voters in the United Kingdom to leave the European Union, and Africa was no exception, especially given its close historical tie...
Microsoft founder Bill Gates doesn’t understand why people are not concerned about artificial intelligence (AI), agreeing with Elon Musk that it could be one of our biggest existential th...
The last three decades have been marked by intense political activism against globalization. The opposition, however, has been driven by a narrow view that equates globalization with inte...
The ability to edit the genetic code of organisms is hailed as one of the most profound technological achievements of the past five years. Specific techniques known as “gene drives” can t...
From newspaper editors to TV anchors to bloggers, the default symbol of African agriculture is an African woman holding a hand hoe. This imagery highlights the drudgery African women face...
Africa’s regional economic integration represents the continent’s most ambitious political innovation since the wave of decolonization that started in the late 1950s. It is widely recogni...
The current slump in world commodity prices is forcing Africa to rethink its traditional dependence on raw material exports. The time for African nations to lay the foundations for transi...
Digital connectivity has the potential to do for Africa what railroads did for Western economies in the 19th century. The digital revolution is not just about communication. It is about r...
