The African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) initiative, Next Einstein Forum (NEF), will this year be holding the Africa Science Week 2019 in 38 countries across Africa running from September through December.
The NEF Africa Science Week is a weeklong event organized to promote Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). It is led by NEF Ambassadors – local science and technology champions – together with the support of local academic, public and private sector stakeholders and sponsors, to raise the profile of STEM in Africa.
“Last year, we had Africa Science Week in 34 countries. We’ve expanded to 39 countries this year and we are truly excited about how fun and relevant the activities will be for all ages,” Nathalie Munyampenda, Managing Director of NEF.
Activities include science expos and caravans, coding workshops, hackathons, robotics competitions, Science and Cocktails for the business community, innovative academic conferences, celebrating women in STEM events, movie nights and industry visits.
“We are grateful to Johnson & Johnson Innovation, Government of Rwanda and French Development Agency, as well as all of our local supporters for working with us to raise the appeal of STEM education and careers. We look forward to seeing the impact of NEF Africa Science Week over the next few years,” said Nathalie.
NEF Africa Science Week will kick start in Cape Verde before moving to other countries including Lesotho, Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Djibouti, Zambia, Burkina Faso, Mali, Uganda, Mauritania, Guinea Bissau, Togo, Rwanda, Congo Brazzaville, Chad, Zimbabwe, Egypt, Morocco, Ghana, Malawi, Guinea Conakry, Senegal, Tanzania, Algeria, Angola, Botswana, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Kenya, Madagascar, Niger, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan and Tunisia. Each country will offer coordinated activities, designed to enable citizens to engage with everyday science and scientists, and their role in building a sustainable world.
NEF will expand the reach of Africa Science Week to 54 countries by 2022. Beyond numbers, NEF hopes that Africa Science Week will grow to include major activities in schools and universities, and result in fruitful collaboration between the research community and private sector to tap into African opportunities for growth and development.
Africa Science Week will place public engagement at the heart of advancing Africa’s scientific revolution in line with the NEF’s Kigali Declaration issued at the second biennial NEF Global Gathering 2018, held in Kigali, Rwanda.
The next edition of the NEF Global Gathering will be held in Nairobi on 10-13 March 2020 under the patronage of H.E. Uhuru Kenyatta, President of Kenya.
Find out how to participate and support Africa Science Week at www.asw.nef.org.
About the Next Einstein Forum
Launched in 2013 by the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), the Next Einstein Forum’s (NEF) work is shaped by our belief that the next Einstein will be African. We are working to make Africa a global hub for science and technology. The NEF is a platform that connects science, society and policy in Africa and the rest of the world – with the goal to leverage science for human development globally. The NEF believes that Africa’s contributions to the global scientific community are critical for global progress. At the centre of our efforts at NEF, is Africa’s young people, the driving force for Africa’s scientific renaissance.
The NEF organized biennial global gatherings, Africa’s largest science and innovation conference. Far from an ordinary science forum, the NEF Global Gatherings position science at the centre of global development efforts. In the presence of political and industry leaders, and with a strong focus on youth and women, the voices of global science leaders’ have the opportunity to be heard and to have major impact on Africa’s scientific future. The NEF Global Gathering 2020 will be held on 10-13 March 2020 in Nairobi, Kenya.
In addition, the NEF organizes Africa Science Week in over 30 countries each year. This year’s edition is holding in 39 countries from September 2019. To make science relevant for everyone, the NEF publishes a public magazine Scientific African Magazine.
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