An African scholar, Goolam Mohamedbhai, on Tuesday, blamed poor research in the continent to limited access to internet and broadband.
Mohamedbhai, the Chair of Partnership for Skills in Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology
(PASET), said that researchers in Africa required good access to internet services.
He told a forum on science research in Nairobi that “researchers in universities require Information, Communication Technology (ICT)
to be able to communicate their findings in a timely manner.”
He noted that in 2017, only 22 per cent of Africa’s population had internet access, a figure far low compared with other continents.
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“This is a sign that access to broadband technology is still very poor in Africa and requires urgent measures,’’ said Mohamedbhai,
former Vice-Chancellor of University of Mauritius.
He further said that frequent power outages were another challenge that institutions of higher learning were grappling with.
The scholar revealed that the lack of laboratory equipment led to insufficient research in Africa and called for the employment
of doctorate degree holders in productive industry and leadership positions in government.
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Mohamedbhai is also the former Secretary-General of the Association of African Universities, and Consultant to the World Bank on PASET.