Africa: The Deferred African Renaissance - Intellectual Poverty and Knowledge Production

29 May 2014
analysis

Africa has no alternative but to invest in building the infrastructure of knowledge-based production. This means good governance, better school systems, excellent universities and a deliberate effort to bolster research and development across private and public sectors

There was much to be celebrated when the African Union (AU) convened to commemorate the 50th anniversary of its formation. The theme for the 2013 summit was 'Pan-Africanism and African Renaissance.' In the opening remarks at the summit, the African Union's Chairperson, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, noted that 'one of our legacies, as Africans, will be to reclaim our responsibility to define our own narratives and tell our African story.'[1] Given the proliferation of writings about 'Africa rising' or the 'African renaissance,' Africa cannot rise without building an effective knowledge-production system. In other words, Africa cannot have a sustainable renaissance without an Africa-focused intelligentsia.[2] To do this, African countries need to build better infrastructure to produce knowledge that is local and relevant. The intellectual poverty of Africa has contributed to the delay of the continent's renaissance.

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