NEW YORK 16 June 2020 – Tackling health crises is not a new experience for Africa’s least developed countries (LDCs), but the COVID-19 pandemic is presenting larger-scale socio-economic challenges few of these vulnerable countries are prepared for.
Excellencies,
Colleagues,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Thank you ALL for joining this virtual meeting of the National Focal Points for Implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action (IPoA).
The analysis in this paper shows that despite the importance of STI, African LDCs are lagging far behind other countries in various STI indicators, including R&D, human resource capacity, patents and innovation. In order for African LDCs to catch-up, they will need to embrace the on-going Technological Revolution, while ensuring that the net effect on the labour market and productivity is positive. This would significantly contribute to eradicating poverty and fostering economic growth in the African LDCs.
