ABSTRACT
In Africa, the ability of countries on the continent to adapt modern biosciences to local needs and propel the development of knowledge-based bioeconomies needs to be strengthened. Adopting and deploying bioscience technologies will require active support from African governments and a dynamic African research for development (R4D) and innovation sector. In addition to government, intra regional and international collaborations as well as functional multidisciplinary innovation platforms will also be key factors in ensuring that the new biosciences benefit Africa (CAAST-Net Plus, 2014). Building capacity in Africa through network programmes has indeed many advantages, such as:
• sharing of scarce R4D infrastructure and key competences to avoid duplication and leverage available resources;
• jointly producing regional public goods while reducing transaction costs and enhancing economies of scale;
• bringing new knowledge and technologies to a broad set of institutions and creating a critical mass of skilled scientists and policy researchers;
• establishing partnerships not only with actors in the region but also international collaborators interested in working with African partners on bioscience innovation issues.
