Abidjan, (Cote d’Ivoire), 9 February 2022                                                                          

ECOWAS Experts in charge of Science and Technology are meeting in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, from 8 to 10 February 2022, to validate the draft 2018/2019 regional report on Science, Technology and Innovation.

The meeting, which is being held in plenary to further reflect on and enrich the report with additional country information in order to have an inclusive report, is attended by experts from ECOWAS Member States, notably from Ministries in charge of Science and Technology, as well as ECOWAS Commission staff.

Scientific research and innovation is one of the main areas of interest in Africa’s development agenda and their contributions to the economic and social progress of our countries are widely known.

Research contributes to solving the problems of society. While some ECOWAS countries call it scientific research and innovation, some countries describe research and innovation as science and technology. The importance of Science and Technology has been emphasised in the revised ECOWAS Treaty (Art 27) and in a number of documents adopted by the Heads of State and Government, in particular the ECOWAS Policy on Science, Technology and Innovation ( ECOPOST) and its 2013-2017 Action Plan (Supplementary Act A/SA.2/06/12).

ECOPOST, through its Strategic Area 8 (Activities 8.1.1 to 8.1.5), places emphasis on improving regional and international cooperation. It is with this in mind that the ECOWAS Experts Meeting on Science and Technology has been convened since 2014, to evaluate the implementation of ECOPOST and validate the regional report on science and technology activities carried out by countries.

ECOWAS produced the first report on science and technology with the collaboration of Member States in 2017. In 2020, the ECOWAS Commission called for reports from countries on their activities for the years 2018 and 2919. In order to come up with a regional report, an independent consultant has been recruited to collate information from the country reports and other sources (reports from other organisations) to finalise the regional report. The aim of the meeting of country experts currently taking place in Abidjan is to validate the report, with a view to making it an official report for the West African region.