African science leaders are increasingly claiming their place in influential continental and global science and technology discussions and networks, according to Dr Connie Nshemereirwe, Director of the Africa Science Leadership Programme (ASLP), during its tenth-anniversary celebration at the University of Pretoria’s Future Africa institute.

“The voice we are bringing to the world is one that has been missing,” Dr Nshemereirwe said during the event on 25 October 2024.

Through the work of initiatives such as the ASLP – which UP co-founded in 2014 in partnership with the Global Young Academy – hundreds of African science leaders are now adding their voices to global technology discussions.

“I came from a very little-known private university in Uganda, and it was mind-blowing to me that here I was rubbing shoulders with 35-year-old scientists from Oxford…” said Dr Nshemereirwe, referring to her election as co-chair of the Global Young Academy after being part of the first ASLP cohort. “Part of why I could step up to that responsibility was I had acquired the skills to engage, listen generously and connect. The biggest gift the ASLP has given me is a strong continental network that I can tap into, and now also a global network, to mobilise around different issues.”

Exponential growth despite funding constraints

The programme had modest beginnings, with enough funding in the first three years to train 20 mid-career African scientists a year in thought leadership, team management and research management.

“We were building a unique programme, co-designed with young African scientists, but 20 a year was not enough. We needed to aim for 1 000, and had money for 60 from the Robert Bosch Foundation,” said Professor Bernard Slippers, the founding Director of the ASLP.

The solution was to use a ‘train-the-trainer’ model to expand the programme’s footprint, he said. Instead of bringing scientists to the University of Pretoria (UP) for training, ASLP fellows would be trained as facilitators of the programme in their own countries.

In this way, the number of ASLP fellows had grown to 932 across 23 African countries by 2024; a number that is set to continue to grow through ongoing and planned new programmes.

The countries that have introduced satellite science leadership programmes include Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Africa (specifically at UP), Uganda and Zimbabwe.