The historic African Heads of States Summit, which is being convened by President Barack Obama between August 4 – 6th here in Washington, is certain to generate a wide variety of commentary from all corners of the Africa-focused community.The official Summit theme is “Investing in the Next Generation,” which strongly resonates with current consultations and reflections throughout the African continent.  It is not real clear however, how the focus on next generation is tied to the Summit’s actual agenda of increasing U.S. trade with Africa.  While no one can say with any degree of certainly what will actually happen during the Summit -- what is certain is that, outcomes of the summit will shape major aspects of United States – Africa relations, trade and diplomacy for the next generation or more. The way forward will be largely determined by what the United States is prepared to do to follow-up and what African governments will do! 

Whatever may be the challenges and motivations involved in the planning and organizing of the first-ever White House Africa Summit, the Constituency for Africa (CFA) believes that this Summit should not be limited to the private sector making deals that may or may not mature and which offer no assurances that the positive impact on Africa and African people will be directly realized!  Moreover the goal of the Summit must be bigger and more transformational as a potential launching pad for a new era in U.S.-Africa relations. The Summit provides a unique opportunity for engagements that could serve to strengthen and recalibrate the broad U.S.-Africa political interface, and pivot U.S.-Africa relations in a direction that deepens mutual trust and enhances a belief that the future of U.S.-Africa relations are truly founded on a commitment to a win-win partnership.

CFA strongly advocates that the United States’ post-summit Africa policy should encompass a science-led agenda. Multi-lateral engagements that purposefully and explicitly partners United States science and higher education—acknowledged to be second to none—is crucial for Africa to continue on the path of economic growth, and contribute to the management of global security and quality-of-life challenges. Unfortunately, the upcoming White House Summit will miss a historical opportunity to consider: (a) the science and technology capability needs for transforming African economies, (b) necessary attendant U.S.-Africa policy orientations and resource (re) allocations, and (c) how the topic of science and technology capabilities as a joint endeavor can stimulate/promote new forms of exchange and cooperation between Africa and the United States government, with an aim to strengthening what can be achieved in Africa. Such cooperation will increase important levers in trade and economic relations and drive the expansion of African market opportunities for the United States, as well as enhance the United States’ scientific excellence and technological competitiveness in the knowledge-based world society.

The current discussion of Africa’s heralded economic growth and rise is leading to increased optimism and self-confidence on the continent, and the need to strengthen its human capabilities to sustain such growth and ensure that such growth is accompanied by significantly less poverty and greater prosperity for the continent.

The economic upswing in Africa is predominantly based on the extraction of natural resources rather than increase in productivity. Notwithstanding high growth rates, the distribution of derived benefits is heavily skewed in favor of the upper class. One of the desired Africa development scenarios envisages a progressive transition in which sustained and accelerated economic growth is achieved through the development of productive capacities. With the associated expansion of productive employment opportunities, there could be substantial poverty alleviation across the continent, and Africa can develop an economically productive and independent middle class, as vanguards of economic progress and the much desired democratic stability.

African leaders have often said that African challenges, especially governance, accountability and conflicts are more pronounced, but not unique to Africa; that indeed, incidences of these challenges are generally on the decline, when one looks at its relatively short post-colonial history. Some will say that what ultimately distinguishes – or handicaps-- contemporary developing Africa from a developed America and Europe, is the mastery and utilization of modern science and technology. African economies and society are dominated by low level processing of natural resources and the production of simple consumer goods for local consumption, and have remained substantially untransformed from its colonial raw material production and export origins. Most African countries are far from making any internationally significant technological breakthroughs. The critical factor in technological learning is the domestic knowledge system which may enable the creation, accumulation, uptake, use and sharing of knowledge. Those systems should support the effective acquisition, diffusion and improvement of foreign technologies.

Indeed, the broad African political leadership has variously situated scientific capacity as the premier continental development priority, and as prerequisite for developing the necessary continental scientific manpower for other important priorities like trade, governance, and security. Through the African Union, AMCOST, NEPAD, Regional Economic Communities and other partnerships, Africa today is broadly emphasizing and demanding scientific competencies and productivity, as crucial and prerequisite for it to integrate into the world economy, and firmly stay on a path to fulfilling its vision of a more prosperous future. Such growing recognition is resulting in emerging shifts in African regional development priorities towards development of regional technical and scientific competencies, as reflected in ongoing continental efforts to correct longstanding imbalance in African educational systems through establishment of specialized universities and centers of excellence.

To not factor these dominant African political preoccupations pulse in developing summit and post-summit engagements, will be to situate opportunities inherent in such a historical encounter outside articulated dominant interests, misalign priorities, and provide room for more cynicism in future U.S.-Africa relations.

This provides a major area where political preoccupations on both sides could align interests seamlessly: science and technology. Increased South-South cooperation, especially between Africa and the “BRIC” countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China), have affirmed to the African political leadership that Science and Technology advancement is a major guarantee for poverty eradication and improvement of capability for independent development; primary productive force is the powerful support for economic growth and social prosperity, and the engine for sustainable and balanced development.

The United States, whose global preeminence is predicated on its scientific prowess, understands all too well that without advanced competencies in science and technology, no African country or region is able to access the full power of – much less participate in creating – scientific research and technological tools to solve the daunting catalogue of internal and trans-border health, energy, development and quality-of-life challenges confronting the continent. This understanding is manifest in the multitude of science cooperation instruments that it currently has with dozens of countries.

This reality is at the heart of President Obama’s administration, which has consistently placed Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) as a core policy and budgetary priority, and as prerequisite for America’s preeminence and viability in all other domains of national sustenance.

Fifty years ago, Africa faced trade and governance challenges at a scale much more daunting than what it faces today. While the United States policy establishment was developing dealing with a then young incisive American presidential candidate, John F. Kennedy, perceived that Africa – like other countries emerging from colonialism -- was itself more preoccupied with developing basic literacy and the manpower for its new and mostly vacant state apparatuses. He asked a few students at the university of Michigan if they will be interested in spending some time in Ghana. The spirited response resulted in one of America’s greatest gift to the world and to itself: the Peace Corps.

Today, Africa is broadly emphasizing and demanding scientific competencies and productivity to better determine and control instruments for its economic and social transformation, stimulate technological catch-up with the rest of the world. It is demanding this as crucial and prerequisite for it to integrate into the world economy, and firmly stay on a path to fulfilling its vision of a more prosperous future. It may be worth contemplating what a young inspiring American president would ask of its higher education establishment and scientific community.  
                                        
By Melvin Foote and Nkem Khumbah

Melvin Foote is Founder and President of the Constituency for Africa (CFA), a Washington, DC based education and advocacy organization.  He can be reached at [email protected]