Prof. M. Maaza, an Algerian by birth & South African by residence holdsa DESS in Solid State Physics from the University of Oran-Algeria, an MSC in Lasers & Photonics & a PhD in Quantum Neutron Optics from the University of Pierre-Marie Curie& the Commissariat a l’Energie Atomique respectively. He is currently a permanent joint staff member of the National Research Foundation of South Africa (NRF) and the University of South Africa (UNISA). Prof. Maaza is the current UNESCO UNISA Africa Chair in Nanosciences & Nanotechnology via a trilateral partnership between UNESCO, NRF and the University of South Africa (UNISA). Among other positions held, he was the Southern Africa representative of the International Commission of Optics (ICO-CIO). He is the chair of the ICSU-UNESCOUNIDO TWAS supported official Nanosciences African Network (NANOAFNET), and southern Africa coordinator of the African Physical Society (AfPS) as well as a member of the board of the directors of the African Laser Centre (ALC). He is the South Africa representative of the African Lasers, Atoms & Molecules Network (LAMNETWORK). He was and is the Southern Africa contact point of the Japan-South Africa S&T cooperation and ICS-UNIDO respectively in nanosciences-nanotechnologies. Prof. Maaza has been instrumental in pioneering and implementing numerous currently successful ongoing continental and national official initiatives amid which the African Laser Centre, the Nanosciences African Network, the National Laser Centre of South Africa (NLC SA) and the South African Nanotechnology initiative (SANi). He is in charge of the Africa-International relations desk at iThemba LABSNational Research Foundation of South Africa. He is extraordinary professor at the Tshwane-Pretoria University of Technology and an associate scientist of the US National Science Foundation Centre of Excellence in Nanosciences-Clark Atlanta University. He is a fellow of the African Academy of Sciences, Royal Society of Chemistry, New York Academy of Sciences & the Islamic Academy of Sciences.Recently, ProfM. Maaza has been elected as Fellow of the American Association for Advancement of Sciences & the European Academy of Sciences. His expertise is in the multidisciplinary field of nanosciences, photonics and solar energy. Within the STI & RDI landscapes, With aHirsh index of 33, Prof. M. Maaza has published more than 300 ISI International publications and supervised several postgraduates from all over Africa & the South. These home grown workforce have been absorbed by the job market & are occupying strategic positions both in the continent & internationally.