Two scientists will be smiling home with a cheque award of 100,000 USD on Saturday during the 26th Session of the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government, at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The two, Prof. Opara Umezurike of Nigeria and Prof. Nyokong Tebello of South Africa were recognized by the African Union Commission under the 2015 edition of the prestigious Kwame Nkrumah Continental Scientific Awards, a joint effort between the Commission and her Development Partners particularly the European Commission.
The 100000 USD prize is to further boost their research capacity in the fields of Basic Sciences, Technology and Innovation and Life and Earth Sciences.
The event was moderated by H.E Martial De Paul Ikounga, Commissioner for Human Resources, Science and Technology who explained that the Kwame Nkrumah Continental Scientific Awards is awarded at three levels – national, regional and continental with the objective to honour the African men and women in science who distinguished themselves by their contribution to African development through their work in the field of research and training.
AUC Chairperson Dr Dlamini-Zuma underlined that Africa is a leading global player in terms of abundant human and natural resources, which if strategically capitalized will immensely contribute to Africa’s developing growth story.
She added that the economic productivity of Africa is tightly linked to the scientific and technological skills of the African workforce.
Speaking on behalf of the awardees, Prof. Nyokong Tebello expressed optimism that African scientist will make good progress towards a healthier and better Africa in the next decade, particularly in finding solutions to the biggest problems on our continent.
