The Ministry of Youth and Sports, headed by Dr. Ashraf Sobhy, held the second meeting of “Africa Corridor” Salon on the status of Science, Technology and Innovation in Africa, coinciding with the regional role adopted by Egypt within its presidency of the African Union  in 2019.

The meeting was attended by Dr. Ahmed Hamdi, Executive Director of the Scientific and Technical Research Commission of the African Union, Dr. Islam Abu al-Majd, Advisor to the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research for African Affairs, Dr. Merit Rostom, Representative of Egypt to Union of Arab Scientific Research Councils, Ms. Dina Fouad, Head of  Central Administration for the Parliament and Civic Education of the Ministry of youth and sports, and Mr. Hassan Ghazali,  General Coordinator of the African Youth Bureau and  vice president of the African Youth Union

The meeting discussed opportunities and challenges regarding science and technology in Africa and its impact on African youth.

Dr. Ahmed Hamdi, Executive Director of the Scientific and Technical Research Commission of the African Union, stressed the importance of scientific research, particularly in the African region, and the need to link scientific research themes to youth and entrepreneurship field, referring to the role of scientific research by contributing to solving the problems of the African continent in various fields.

Dr. Hamdi added that the interest in science and technology in the humanitarian conflicts field plays a part in solving many of the issues, problems and challenges facing the African continent, stressing that the vision and strategy of Egypt 2030 can be achieved with the help of conscious youth, also through technology, science and innovation.

For his part, Dr. Islam Abu al-Majd, Advisor to the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research for African Affairs, referred that the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research always seeks to raise awareness of the African continent issues and identify in particular as young people represent the driving force in all areas, despite, the major challenges facing the continent, stressing , the importance of  regional cooperation between universities in the area of scientific research , also setting priorities for the implementation of strategies.

Dr. Merit Rostom, Representative of Egypt to Union of Arab Scientific Research Councils, explained the criteria for the selection of topics of the grants for youth, which are consistent with the strategic plan of the State  , also contribute directly to the completion of international plans in the priority areas, as well as ,expanding the base of cooperation between the various scientific research institutions, Pointing out that the main objective of the education grant program is to qualify the participants of the young researchers to lead the scientific research in science and technology,  raising their capacity and achieving some of the development goals , also exploiting the resources and the  available potential of research through  joint collaboration.

The African youth, participating in the “Africa Corridor” Salon, discussed the challenges of scientific research and the problems faced by young people in the areas of technology, science and innovation, including funding problems, difficulties to benefit from the education grants for youth, and the financial condition of the researcher, also some young researchers presented their scientific and research experiences, their inventions and creativity to be discussed with specialists.

The African youth proposed some recommendations including, the establishment of a marketing center for inventions, and a company to finance scientific projects in Egypt, the participation of youth in the following-up the implementation of strategies and plans, in addition to, the implementation of joint training programs among African youth , as well as  promoting  interest in social sciences through scientific research, and  setting up of  clear mechanisms for communication with universities and youth at the level of the African continent.

At the end of the meeting, Undersecretary of the Ministry honored Dr. Ahmed Hamdi for his valuable efforts regarding the African continent in the area of scientific research.

The Salon is held in the context of the interest of the state institutions with the external dimension, as a part of Egypt's Vision 2030, which aims to deepen relations between the nations of the continent. The “Africa Corridor” Salon, aims to strengthen the cultural and scientific ties among the people of the African continent, as well as providing the opportunity  for young people to meet with a number of thinkers and officials and initiators working in the African affairs, which is considered a channel for dialogue , aimed  to building youth cadres ,  involved in  the African issue .