The African Academy of Sciences (AAS) has disclosed that Nigeria will host some 1,000 outstanding thinkers and distinguished stakeholders from around the world, including policy stakeholders, regional science bodies, development partners, and key leaders in the continent for biannual conference and General Assembly of the African Academy of Sciences, in December 9-12, 2024 in Abuja
At the conference, recent scientific discoveries and innovations by scientists will be unveiled and discussed during a session.
Speaking during a press conference, Wednesday, in Abuja , the Secretary General of AAS, Professor Friday Okonofua, who represented President of the Academy, Professor Lise Korsten of the University of Pretoria, South Africa, said new fellows across the African continent will be inducted into the Academy.
” The AAS GA-2024 will unite some 1,000 outstanding thinkers and distinguished stakeholders from around the world, including policy stakeholders, regional science bodies, development partners, and key leaders in the continent. The conference will cover subthemes including: Health, climate change, science diplomacy, science Infrastructure, agriculture, social science and policy, the basic sciences, engineering, mechanisms digital and creative economy, and future funding”.
“The conference will be declared open by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, while the President of the African Development Bank, Professor Akinwunmi Adesina will deliver the keynote address. Other presenters who have accepted to deliver papers at the conference include Professor Patrick Lumumba from Nairobi, Kenya, Professor Olubayi Olubayi from Uganda, and Professor Oyewale Tomori, current President of the West African of Science Academies.
“During the conference, new Fellows will be admitted into the Academy, while the recipient of the Olusegun Obasanjo prize and other awards will be announced. We strongly believe that the outcomes of the conference hold great promise for re-positioning Africa to a new way of thinking about science and leveraging its potential to promote Africa’s development and its future.”
Also speaking, AAS Fellow, Prof. Hilary Inyang, said the press has a significant role in the dissemination of information about the conference as the role of scientists is to provide knowledge for policy makers to act on.
“The role of scientists is to provide knowledge for policy makers to act on. Unfortunately, we don’t have the instrument to disseminate information to the general public. This is where the pressmen come in so that policy makers will take up whatever discovery we make to act on. most of what is happening in sciences isn’t well known in Nigeria, hence this conference is very important for the development of Nigeria and the African continent,” he said.