The minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Monica Musenero, has called upon African university researchers to embrace research that addresses the needs of the community in order to tackle the challenges of unemployment and value addition to agricultural products.
Dr Musenero disclosed this while officiating at the opening of the Fifth African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) Biennial International Conference, under the theme ‘Research, Innovation and Artificial Intelligence for Africa’s Transformation’, at Makerere University.
She challenged the researchers to become producers of artificial intelligence, noting that Africans are spending a lot of money on AI from developed countries.
Dr Musenero added that digital technologies, such as sports betting companies, make Ugandans poorer, and that buying expensive data to chat on social media platforms sends money to foreign companies, thereby increasing poverty. She challenged the researchers to come up with innovations that address African challenges.
The general secretary of ARUA, Prof. John Gyapong, said the Alliance comprises 17 universities from different African countries, where they carry out research-intensive projects as a consortium. They meet every two years to assess their achievements and plan future projects.
The Vice Chancellor of Makerere University, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe, said Makerere has signed a memorandum of understanding with Asrial Learning of the United States of America to start an Institute of Open and Distance Learning (e-learning), which is expected to commence soon.
