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AIMS, through the Next Einstein Forum announce the NEF Africa Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Week – 7th to 18th October 2024
“Youth-led innovations driving sustainable development in Africa.” Kigali, Rwanda, September 11th, 2024 The Next Einstein Forum (NEF), an initiative of the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), is pleased to announce the NEF Africa Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Week, set to take place from October 7 to 18, 2024. This groundbreaking event will be hosted [...]
AIMS, through the Next Einstein Forum announce the NEF Africa Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Week – 7th to 18th October 2024
“Youth-led innovations driving sustainable development in Africa.” Kigali, Rwanda, September 11th, 2024 The Next Einstein Forum (NEF), an initiative of the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), is pleased to announce the NEF Africa Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Week, set to take place from October 7 to 18, 2024. This groundbreaking event will be hosted [...]
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AIMS, through the Next Einstein Forum announce the NEF Africa Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Week – 7th to 18th October 2024
September 11, 2024 | Africa, Blog, News, News Articles, Press Releases, The NEF Blog
“Youth-led innovations driving sustainable development in Africa.” Kigali, Rwanda, September 11th, 2024 The Next Einstein Forum (NEF), an initiative of the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), is pleased to announce the NEF Africa Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Week, set to take place from October 7 to 18, 2024. This groundbreaking event will be hosted [...]
Wired-up Interview with Charles LM Kimpolo
April 11, 2022 | Africa, Blog, Fellows, Highlight, News, News Articles, STEM
Education problems and a lack of access to technology have been widely recognized on the continent as major stumbling blocks to economic competitiveness and social equality.” Charles Lebon Mberi Kimpolo, Director of the AIMS Industry Initiative, launched the Young African Technologists (YAT) project to change this situation. How? Watch his inspiring interview on WiredUp Africa [...]
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The Heartbeat of Africa: Food, Culture, and Wellbeing
November 23, 2021 | Africa, Blog, Fellows, Innovation, Policy, Science
By Dr. Ebele Mogo and Grainne Hutton Food has served various cultural, economic, culinary, and even aesthetic purposes in African countries throughout history. In the 20th century, pyramid-like displays of groundnut sacks adorned cities in northern Nigeria. Known as the groundnut pyramids, these tourist attractions symbolized growing agricultural prosperity in the region. Once a famous [...]
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AIMS Enrolls 51 Alumni in MS4CR Internship Program
Compounding with a growing number of new challenges caused by the evolving COVID-19, climate change remains a global priority. The multidimensional negative impacts of climate science are more pronounced in the Global South and Africa in particular. These regions witnessed increased possibilities of severe droughts, floods, and storms threatening their social and economic future. Against [...]
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Bosun Tijani, the man behind Africa’s largest tech hub
June 7, 2021 | Africa, Blog, Innovation, Technology
Next Einstein Forum: Tell us in a few words what CcHUB is and the impact it has had on Africa? Bosun Tijani: CcHUB stands at the forefront of the fastest moving technology industry trends and is maintaining its focus on shaping the economy and the future of Africa. It is championing the growth of start-up communities whose [...]
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Dr. Sajjad Fazel, a rising figure in East Africa’s science communication field
May 24, 2021 | Africa, Blog, Healthcare, Policy, Science, Youth
Next Einstein Forum: Could you please tell us how and why you decided to embark upon a career in the science field? Sajjad Fazel: Ever since I was young, I loved science. I was a curious child, and science was my way of exploring the world and learning different things. I enjoyed conducting science experiments, [...]
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Temie Giwa-Tubosun, a leading figure in West Africa’s healthcare industry
May 17, 2021 | Africa, Blog, Healthcare, Science, Women in Science and Tech
Next Einstein Forum: West Africa’s healthcare system is faced with a couple of challenges. What are the main barriers that need to be overcome? Temie Giwa-Tubosun: One of the major challenges is limited access to critical medical supplies such as blood, oxygen, and vaccines. This is particularly due to the severely fragmented healthcare supply chain. [...]
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Dr. Fadji Maina, étoile montante dans le paysage scientifique africain
April 26, 2021 | Africa, Blog, Innovation, Science, The NEF Blog, Women in Science and Tech
Par Szymon Jagiello Next Einstein Forum: Quelles sont les raisons qui vous ont motivé à embrasser une carrière dans la filière scientifique? Fadji Maina: J’ai toujours été curieuse depuis mon enfance. Mon entourage me rappelle toujours toutes les questions que je posais quand j’étais petite. J’ai grandi avec le désir et la soif de comprendre [...]
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Dr. Chao Mbogo, the inspirational path of a computer scientist
April 16, 2021 | Africa, Blog, Person, Science, STEM, Technology, Women in Science and Tech, Youth
By Layih Butake and Szymon Jagiello Next Einstein Forum: Could you please tell us how and why you decided to embark upon a career in the science field? Chao Mbogo: I did not know that I wanted a career in computer science until I decided to pursue a degree in mathematics and computer science when [...]
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NEF Community of Scientists Review Digital Economy Strategy, Elects New Executive Committee
June 30, 2020 | Blog, Feat Articles, Fellows
17 March 2019 -NAIROBI — The Next Einstein Forum (NEF) Community of Scientists (CoS) elected a new Executive Team for its 2019–2021 Session. New Chair Prof. Sanushka Naidoo, NEF Fellow from South Africa, replaces Dr. Yebebal Fantaye, NEF Fellow from Ethiopia, who led the group during the 2017–2019 Session. This Sunday afternoon, the Next Einstein [...]
Tapping into New and Formalized Ancient Economies: Who is ready for the Fourth Industrial Revolution?
| Africa, Blog, Innovation, Technology
By Youssef TRAVALY, Vice-President of the Next Einstein Forum The African continent is at the dawn of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), a profoundly transformative global process, which will have impact throughout our societies, economies, and cultures. Two key features characterize industrial revolutions including successive energy transitions and successive technological transitions. Energy transitions – the [...]
L’Afrique est-elle prête à tirer profit de la transition énergétique à venir? La Dr. Sandrine Mubenga livre son point de vue
| Africa, Blog, Innovation, Science
Next Einstein Forum: Selon plusieurs experts, la 4ème révolution industrielle sera notamment alimentée par les énergies vertes. Êtes-vous d’accord avec cet avis? Sandrine Mubenga: Nous sommes en guerre pour le climat et les énergies fossiles ne constituent plus une solution durable. Il nous faut donc des énergies respectueuses de l’environnement. Nous sommes à l’aube d’une 4ème [...]
Comment impliquer davantage les femmes dans le domaine des sciences en Afrique? la Dr. Elsa Zekeng livre son analyse
June 28, 2020 | Africa, Blog, Gender Equality, Innovation, Science, STEM, Women in Science and Tech
Next Einstein Forum: En 2016, l’Union européenne (UE) vous a sélectionné comme Jeune Leader en reconnaissance de votre contribution dans le domaine de la science. Comment avez-vous réussi à briser le «plafond de verre»? Elsa Zekeng: Au moment de ma sélection, je faisais mon doctorat en maladies infectieuses et santé mondiale à l’Université de Liverpool [...]
Le rôle des médecins face au Covid-19 avec la Dr. Assia Mohamed Aden, une héroïne scientifique du Djibouti
June 25, 2020 | Africa, Blog, Healthcare, Science, Women in Science and Tech
Next Einstein Forum: Pourriez-vous nous expliquer brièvement pourquoi avez-vous choisi d’embrasser une carrière dans le domaine de la médecine? Une personne vous aurait-elle inspirée à suivre cette voie? Assia Mohamed Aden: Fille aînée d’un médecin, j’ai grandi à travers le prisme de la médecine. Depuis mon plus jeune âge, cette science pour laquelle je me [...]
La sensibilisation, une arme efficace contre le Covid-19? Le Dr. MBAYE, un héros scientifique du Maroc, livre son analyse
June 23, 2020 | Africa, Blog, Healthcare, Science, Youth
Next Einstein Forum: Pourriez-vous nous expliquer brièvement pourquoi avez-vous choisi d’embrasser une carrière dans le domaine de la science? M.M.M.: Plusieurs éléments ont contribué à mon choix d’embrasser une carrière dans le domaine scientifique, à l’instar de mes deux mentors, mon père et mon oncle, qui sont respectivement entrepreneur et biologiste. Ainsi, le métier de [...]
Carpe Diem: A Case for E-commerce as a Tool for Digital Disruption in Africa during Covid-19
| Africa, Ambassadors, Blog, Feat Articles, Highlight, Technology
by Kevin Muvunyi and Esther Kunda* World-renowned theoretical physicist Albert Einstein once said that in the midst of every crisis lies great opportunity. Amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, this statement becomes all the more relevant. The current pandemic has disrupted economies around the globe, with most countries expected to witness low percentage GDP growth. Africa [...]
Zimbabwe’s new government must commit to science
December 18, 2017 | Africa, Blog, Highlight, News, Science
In a piece written by Dexter Tagwireyi in international journal of science in Nature, Zimbabwe has been excluded from many international funding and grant opportunities because of its instability, both real and perceived. The only way to access these funds has been to collaborate with scientists from other African countries and around the world. Just three [...]
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The literary genius of Africa’s leading innovation scholar, Calestous Juma
| Blog, Highlight, Innovation, News
Calestous Juma, the towering Kenyan scholar of technology and development, died on Friday (Dec. 15) at the age of 64 in Boston, Massachusetts. Harvard’s Kennedy School professor, was known for his work on innovation, and how that intersected with sectors including agriculture, education, health, and economic prosperity. As a prolific and luminary academic, he combined rigorous evidence with [...]
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West Africa’s biggest solar farm launched in Burkina Faso
December 5, 2017 | Africa, Blog, Highlight, News
Burkina Faso is now home to West Africa’s biggest solar farm, a 33-megawatt plant located in the town of Zatubi, outside the capital Ouagadougou. Records indicate that only about 20% of Burkina Faso’s 17 million population have access to the national power system. The majority depend on other unsustainable power generation options. Built at a cost [...]
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Hopes for HIV vaccine buoyed by start of second big trial
| Blog, Healthcare, Highlight, News
Scientists announced the launch of another large HIV vaccine efficacy study, fueling hopes for a protective shot against the virus that causes AIDS, despite past disappointments. The start of the new trial involving 2,600 women in southern Africa means that for the first time in more than a decade there are now two big HIV [...]
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Open access publishing platform launched for African scientists
| Blog, Highlight, News, Science
African scientists are getting their own open access publication platform, which will use a system of transparent, post-publication peer review. The African Academy of Sciences, in partnership with F1000, is launching AAS Open Research, which will offer immediate online publication to AAS-funded and affiliated researchers. Peer review reports will be published alongside the articles, together [...]
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Nairobi Scientists discover technology to manage maize pest
| Africa, Blog, Highlight, News
Scientists at the Nairobi-based International Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) announced Thursday they have discovered a technology that will manage ravaging pest that has worsened food insecurity in Africa. In a statement released in Nairobi last week, the scientists said the technology, Push-Pull, is effective in controlling the Fall Armyworm, which mainly prefer maize plants [...]
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How a West African lab made a 3D printer from toxic e-waste
| Africa, Blog, Highlight, Innovation, News
An innovative lab in Lomé, the capital city of Togo in West Africa created the first “Made in Africa” 3D printer using e-waste. WoeLab, a community tech hub established by architect Sénamé Koffi Agbodjinou, 37, made the machine using little more than scrap printers, computers and scanners. The idea was born after Agbodjinou purchased a 3D [...]
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BIO GIRLS DAY 2017: EXPOSING GIRLS TO OPPORTUNITIES IN BIO-SCIENCES
December 1, 2017 | Blog, Feat Articles, Highlight, Science, The NEF Blog, Youth
The African Woman in Science and The Work Place The under-representation of African women in science and its related fields is a cause for concern. The stereotypical African woman in times past was seen as a weak figure better suited to doing ‘menial’ jobs including raising children and taking care of the home. Today, paradigms [...]
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Africa must keep its rich, valuable data safe from exploitation
November 24, 2017 | Highlight, News
Data is being driven by major international research collaborations like the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) project. This and similar initiatives are producing volumes of data the continent has never witnessed before. All of that data then needs to be carefully managed throughout every stage of the research project. That’s why data stewardship – a job that didn’t exist in academia [...]
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Educator Challenges AAAS to Join the Search for Next Einstein
February 14, 2016 | Blog, Highlight
African education leader Thierry Zomahoun called on global scientific community to pick up chalk and help him uncover a new Einstein in Africa. President and CEO of the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), Zomahoun delivered a speech to a packed room at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual conference in [...]
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Promoting African Science Through the Next Einstein Forum – #NEF2016
I am delighted to be named among the first cohort of Next Einstein Forum Science Ambassadors. According to NEF.org, “the Next Einstein Forum (NEF) is a platform that brings together leading thinkers in science, policy, industry and civil society in Africa to leverage science to solve global challenges.” Believing that the next Einstein will be African, NEF [...]
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Next Einstein Forum launches applications for its innovation competition Ci2i
Kigali, Rwanda -10 January 2018 – The Next Einstein Forum (NEF) today launches the hunt for Africa’s brightest innovators to compete in its NEF Challenge of Invention to Innovation (Ci2i). Young African scientists and innovators under 42 years of age are invited to present their research driven innovations in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) [...]
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Le Next Einstein Forum lance les inscriptions pour son concours d’innovation Ci2i
Kigali, Rwanda – le 10 janvier 2018 – Le Next Einstein Forum (NEF) lance aujourd’hui son processus de sélection des innovateurs africains. Les plus brillants participeront au Challenge NEF de « l’Invention à l’Innovation (Ci2i) ». Les jeunes scientifiques et innovateurs africains de moins de 42 ans sont invités à présenter leurs innovations axées sur la recherche [...]
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Next Einstein Forum launches applications for its innovation competition Ci2i
| Blog, Innovation, News, News Articles, Newsroom, Press Releases, STEM
Kigali, Rwanda -10 January 2018 – The Next Einstein Forum (NEF) today launches the hunt for Africa’s brightest innovators to compete in its NEF Challenge of Invention to Innovation (Ci2i). Young African scientists and innovators under 42 years of age are invited to present their research driven innovations in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) [...]
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Le Next Einstein Forum lance les inscriptions pour son concours d’innovation Ci2i
| Blog, News, News Articles, Newsroom, Press Releases, STEM
Kigali, Rwanda – le 10 janvier 2018 – Le Next Einstein Forum (NEF) lance aujourd’hui son processus de sélection des innovateurs africains. Les plus brillants participeront au Challenge NEF de « l’Invention à l’Innovation (Ci2i) ». Les jeunes scientifiques et innovateurs africains de moins de 42 ans sont invités à présenter leurs innovations axées sur la recherche [...]
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For tech to be funded, it must improve lives
January 9, 2018 | Africa, Blog, Highlight, News, Policy, Science
Technology can’t solve problems. Neither can data, for that matter. It can’t plug the holes of governance and political will but, without it, we cannot hope to address the myriad problems facing African countries. This idea permeated the Science Forum South Africa. Whether it was in the use of satellites to monitor the continent’s resources [...]
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There’s No Such Thing as Being Bad at Math: How Neuroscience Is Changing the Equation
It’s common to hear well educated adults declare themselves “not a math person,” sometimes proudly. Indeed, many people of all ages believe that mathematical ability is something you are either born with or not, rather than something to be mastered with focused effort. This belief is wrong. What’s more, it’s harmful to kids as they have their first [...]
Next Einstein Forum Announces Its Ambassadors, Champions Of Science And Technology Across Africa
December 21, 2017 | Africa, Ambassadors, Blog, News
The Next Einstein Forum, announces its second cohort of Ambassadors Class, 45 scientists and tech champions across Africa, solving Africa’s and the world’s challenges. Central to the NEF’s vision of propelling Africa onto the global scientific stage, the NEF Ambassadors will attend the NEF Global Gathering #NEF2018 in Kigali, connect with each other and scientists from across [...]
UGANDA’S SCIENTIST NAMED AMONG THE NEXT EINSTEIN FORUM AMBASSADORS, CHAMPIONS OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ACROSS AFRICA
| Ambassadors, Blog, Highlight, News
Uganda’s Joanitah N Nalubega named among the champions of Science & Tech across Africa. She’s an industrial chemist, with a deep passion for technology, currently working to deploy solutions for the health sector using technology. Also a founding partner of a fellowship of creatives called Kafunda Kreative which seeks to build the capacity of young creatives [...]
Un “ambassadeur” ouest-africain dédié à l’agriculture pour le 2è Next Einstein Forum
| Africa, Ambassadors, Blog, News
Le Next Einstein Forum (NEF) a annoncé hier sa deuxième “classe d’ambassadeurs”, soit 45 scientifiques et champions technologiques en Afrique, tous âgés de moins de 42 ans, qui résolvent les défis de l’Afrique et du monde, rapporte Tic Mag. La première édition a eu lieu en mars 2016 à Dakar. D’Afrique de l’Ouest, un seul ambassadeur [...]
40 Africans Under 40 – Making It In Africa
December 18, 2017 | Africa, Blog, Fellows, Highlight, News, STEM
NEF Fellow Mouhamed Moustapha Fall, recognized by Africa.com under Top 40 Under 40 extraordinary men and women who are transforming the future of Africa. This list includes people who are making amazing contributions in their respective fields of expertise. Young Africans are smart people who’ve taken it upon themselves to use their various talents and fields of [...]
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STEM fields need to be more friendly to women
According to NSF’s Science and Engineering Indicators, the STEM fields are dominated by a male presence. For example, 11.1 percent of physicists and astronomers are women, 22.7 percent of chemical engineers are women, 35.2 percent of chemists are women and 7.9 percent of mechanical engineers are women. NSF also says that Women, Minorities, and Persons [...]
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Gender Equity for Africa’s Scientists
The next Einstein could be an African woman, but Africa’s gender gap in science education and jobs means the world may never know. To position Africa for long-term development success, and to give women and girls the opportunities they deserve, efforts must be made to achieve gender parity in the so-called STEM disciplines. NEF Fellow Aminata [...]
Zimbabwe’s new government must commit to science
| Africa, Blog, Highlight, News, Science
In a piece written by Dexter Tagwireyi in international journal of science in Nature, Zimbabwe has been excluded from many international funding and grant opportunities because of its instability, both real and perceived. The only way to access these funds has been to collaborate with scientists from other African countries and around the world. Just three [...]
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Jonathan Mboyo Esole : un futur Einstein pour l’Afrique ?
C’est l’histoire d’un garçonnet connu pour ses problèmes de développement et ses difficultés d’expression à Kinshasa devenu professeur de mathématiques à l’université Northeastern, à Boston, aux États-Unis. « J’étais un enfant différent des autres. J’avais des problèmes de croissance. J’ai même été déclaré cliniquement mort. J’étais incapable de me servir de mes mains et de parler [...]
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The literary genius of Africa’s leading innovation scholar, Calestous Juma
| Blog, Highlight, Innovation, News
Calestous Juma, the towering Kenyan scholar of technology and development, died on Friday (Dec. 15) at the age of 64 in Boston, Massachusetts. Harvard’s Kennedy School professor, was known for his work on innovation, and how that intersected with sectors including agriculture, education, health, and economic prosperity. As a prolific and luminary academic, he combined rigorous evidence with [...]
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