Developmental Research Lacking in Africa’s Island States

Written by Makula Dunbar

Jun 25, 2014

Written by Hajira Amla | From Seychelles News Agency

Economic and social growth in small island developing states (SIDS) is a tricky business. Rising poverty levels, effects of climate change, rising debt levels, limited resources, overfishing and threats to food security are just some of the problems holding small island states back, and now Seychelles and Mauritius have pointed out another problem holding back development: a lack of international support for local SIDS-based research and innovation.

Mauritius and Seychelles are often seen as success stories among other island nations due to their high levels of human development and GDP-per-capita.

Seychelles, plunged into default during the 2008 global economic crisis, is now seen as a model of positive economic reform after an IMF-assisted economic reform programme began five years ago and looks likely to be ranked by the World Bank as a high income country. Seychelles is also ranked first in Africa on the UNDP’s Human Development Index.

Giving islanders the tools and support to find their own solutions for their own unique problems would be one of the best ways to help SIDS become more self-sufficient and sustainable, but according to Seychelles’ Minister of Environment and Energy, RolphPayet, progress is being hampered by a lack of international support for SIDS-based research that will help to shape vital policies on issues such as adapting to climate change.

Speaking to SciDev.net, Payet said that research opportunities at the University of Seychelles, the archipelago’s first and only university, of which he is also the pro-chancellor, have been severely hampered by a lack of funding and international collaboration.

“When it comes to climate change, we need good science and today all the good science is done in developed countries,” he said. “Strengthening tertiary education and research capacity for universities in SIDS should be a big priority for the next conference because of the implications for better decision-making, planning and investments, which will be critical for the future.”

This lack of funding and support for research has led to what Mauritius’ foreign minister, Arvin Boolell, has termed a “technology vacuum”, adding that current innovations in sustainable energy and waste management were unsuitable for small-scale island operations.

At the moment, he says, SIDS “have to figure out how to adapt technologies incubated in centres of innovation in the developed world rather than having support to develop their own innovations, which would be better suited to their development needs to begin with.”