“I’m hoping that what we’re going to see in other parts of the continent is the development of other forms of large infrastructure, which our scientists will then be able to go and use,” Naledi Pandor, South Africa’s minister of Science and Technology told SABC News.

According to Pandor, South Africa is ultimately looking to connect with other countries on the continent to bolster scientific infrastructure. Monday July 7, the country launched its very first accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) lab. The addition of labs throughout Africa will help aid in the research of medical diseases, as well as the investigation of geology and biological material.