ECOWAS Policy on Science and Technology: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 02:22, 12 February 2023

Revision as of 23:24, 13 March 2023

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GERD tends to be spent mainly in either the government or university sectors, depending on the country, although only Ghana and Senegal have provided data for all four performing sectors. These data reveal that the share of GERD performed by the business enterprise sector in these two countries is negligible. This will need to change if the region is to raise its investment in research and development.<ref name=":0" />

It would be hazardous to extrapolate to the entire subregion without recent data for more than seven countries, but the available data dodoes suggest a shortage of qualified personnel. Only Senegal stands out, with 361 full-time equivalent researchers per million inhabitants in 2010, according to the [[UNESCO Institute for Statistics]]. Next come Cabo Verde (51), Burkina Faso (48), Ghana and Nigeria (39), Togo (36) and Mali (32). The data for Nigeria date from 2007, for Cabo Verde from 2011 and, for Togo, from 2012. The world average in 2014 was 176 per million inhabitants.<ref name=":0" />

Despite policies promoting gender equality, women's participation in research remains low. Cabo Verde, Senegal and Nigeria have some of the best ratios: around one in three (Cabo Verde) and one in four researchers. Concerning the sector of employment, the surprise comes from Mali, where half (49%) of researchers were working in the business enterprise sector in 2010, according to the [[UNESCO Institute for Statistics]].<ref name=":0" />