African scientists outline actions to reshape health research landscape, spur innovation

Leading African scientists are outlining six practical, Africa-led actions to revitalise health research and development (R&D) on the continent, which they believe, if implemented, would resolve Africa’s research crisis and set it on a trajectory to addressing socio-economic challenges.

While outlining what they describe as actionable pathways with the potential to unlock Africa’s health R&D, they are calling on researchers, policymakers, implementers, funders and governments to collaborate in “reshaping and enabling” the continent’s research landscape.

The measures include building a sustainable, private-sector-led R&D ecosystem that accelerates innovation and the commercialisation of products through collaboration, policy and capital to support product development; creating a diversified and sustainable financing ecosystem with domestic public, private and philanthropic investment; and developing a robust and diverse scientific workforce supported by clear career pathways and expanded access to STEM education.

Other priorities include establishing strong health data infrastructure and digitally enabling environments, alongside support for digital skills development; fostering efficient and resilient R&D supply chains that ensure timely access to quality inputs and support local production; and promoting an “inclusive research culture” grounded in mentorship, collaboration, ethical practice and excellence.

Focused actions, they noted, can help dismantle barriers holding back R&D in Africa. These views are outlined in a commentary published on 15 January 2025 in the journal Nature Health by 14 Calestous Juma Science Leadership Fellows, against the backdrop of profound disruptions in global health funding that threaten healthcare access across Africa.

“Recent disruptive developments in global health R&D funding — such as the dissolution of USAID (US Agency for International Development), reductions in US National Institutes of Health spending, and reduced support for the World Health Organisation — have had a profound effect on the African health innovation environment,” the commentary stated in its opening section.

The scientists contended that these developments have not only put the healthcare of many vulnerable Africans at risk, but have also compelled scientists and policymakers to collectively acknowledge their responsibility to identify and finance home-grown solutions for advancing R&D and evidence-based healthcare on the continent.

The panel identified some challenges as high-level, policy-driven and systemic in nature, while noting that many others are practical and logistical and could have “tangible and accessible” solutions.

Drawn from sub-Saharan countries including Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe, the scientific leaders further noted that African R&D challenges are unfolding amid a rapidly changing international funding environment. This, they argue, underscores the importance of taking relevant actions to “collectively shape a bright future”.

Building a private-sector-led pharmaceutical product and biotechnology R&D ecosystem, for example, could transform the landscape by fostering local innovation, strengthening pipelines from discovery through early clinical trials, and reducing reliance on imported diagnostics and therapeutics, they noted.

In addition, a strong research culture is foundational to advancing R&D and must be built on principles of equity, transparency, ethics and excellence, supported by effective mentorship, professional development and intra-African collaboration.

Meanwhile, the health research human capital environment can be sustained through national research funds and councils that provide structured support for early-career scientists and onward career progression. Drawing sustainable funding from diverse sources, such mechanisms can offer researchers an environment that supports both innovation and long-term planning, they explain.

The scientists emphasise that in Africa, scientific research remains grossly underfunded and unsustainable, with gross domestic expenditure averaging just 0.33 per cent in 2023 — far below the African Union (AU) member states’ 2026 commitment to invest at least 1 per cent of GDP in R&D.

One consequence of this underfunding is the lack of critical mass of active researchers across disciplines, said Iruka Okeke, one of the fellows who authored the commentary and a professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.

“Essential increases in fund allocation must occur in tandem with improvements in research culture, which will ensure that allocated funds are applied to the most important areas and appropriately strengthen our ecosystem,” he added.

African countries can also learn from the experiences of developing countries in Asia and Latin America that have adopted similar measures to leapfrog their scientific research capacity.

These include India, Singapore and, to some extent, China, which have optimised their scientific ecosystems with impressive results.

“Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister, is famed for his focus on science and how he used it as a tool for nation-building. As a result, the Indian Institutes of Technology and the Indian Institute of Science are among the best in the world, and there is a vibrant private biotechnology sector,” Okeke observed.

Young children in India, he noted, typically aspire to become scientists or engineers, while affordable scientific products in African markets often originate from India and China.

Brazil, too, has a more recent history of optimising its scientific ecosystem, with notable results. “In the early 1950s, the Brazilian Federal Agency for Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education oversaw high-quality postgraduate programmes that have yielded impressive numbers of scientific publications and patents in a country otherwise disadvantaged by being non-Anglophone,” he said.

“There is a good understanding that master’s and doctoral-level scientists are critical for technology transfer as well as academic training and research,” Okeke told Down To Earth. “The private sectors in both countries make important contributions to GDP today, but the initial strong policy investments must be acknowledged as the key foundation that allowed this to happen.”

He added that China and Singapore have also successfully developed their scientific sectors and clearly understand the link between science and economic growth.

Despite this, people in many countries, including developed ones that have benefitted the most socio-economically, often forget or fail to recognise the link between science and prosperity.

“In all countries — including those I have cited and those in the Global North — scientific growth is fragile, and strong initial investments can be forgotten, as perhaps best illustrated by US science,” Okeke observed. “As we advocate for the intellectual, policy and financial investments needed to jump-start science in African countries, scientists elsewhere often have to remind the public and policymakers of what has been achieved, how it came to be, and what could happen if those gains are lost.”

According to Nicki Tiffin, lead author of the commentary and Deputy Director of the South African National Bioinformatics Institute at the University of the Western Cape, while many barriers facing health researchers are complex, a significant number can be addressed through “context-specific interventions” aligned with local needs and realities.

Overall, the scientists acknowledge that much work has already been done to outline the challenges facing African research systems, as well as the high-level policies needed to address them, including the AU’s science blueprint, STISA-2024.

“As fellows, however, we have chosen to focus on identifying thematic areas that are amenable to practical and accessible interventions, and to propose specific, realistic action items for each,” the panel explains.

The Calestous Juma Science Leadership Fellowship programme was launched in 2021 by the Gates Foundation to support an inaugural cohort of 14 African researchers, with the aim of advancing scientific leadership while working collaboratively to strengthen research and innovation ecosystems across the continent.