MINRESI GRANTS AUDIENCE TO AUF REGIONAL DIRECTOR FOR CENTRAL AFRICA AND THE GREAT LAKES REGION

The Minister of Scientific Research and Innovation, Dr Madeleine TCHUINTE, granted an audience to the AUF Regional Director for Central Africa and the Great Lakes Region on 13 June 2024.

The Minister of Scientific Research and Innovation, Dr Madeleine TCHUINTE, granted an audience on Thursday 13 June 2024 to Professor Alain KIYINDOU, AUF Regional Director for Central Africa and the Great Lakes Region. Discussions focused on new avenues for collaboration and partnership between AUF and MINRESI through its supervised institutes. Consequently, the said institutes were convened for this meeting.

The heads of the Agricultural Research Institute for Development (IRAD), the Local Material Promotion Authority (MIPROMALO) and the National Committee for Technology Development (CNDT) reviewed their state of cooperation with AUF, and identified new activities and research areas that are worth exploring. Examples of such areas include artificial intelligence, agricultural digitisation and civil nuclear power.

The AUF Regional Director lauded the initiatives undertaken by MINRESI with a view to making Cameroon a hub for research and innovation in Central Africa. He however expressed the wish that these initiatives be carried out in collaboration with other countries in the Central African region so that the latter might benefit from Cameroon’s experience and expertise.

In addition to the above, he echoed the Minister’s concerns regarding the correlation between research and societal needs. It was pointed out that research is supposed to provide concrete solutions to society’s problems. This requires encouraging young researchers to create jobs, in line with the “one researcher, one company” slogan adopted by MINRESI. So the projects carried out jointly by MINRESI and AUF should have a tangible positive impact on the local people, who are expected to be the main beneficiaries of this research.

©CelTrad/MINRESI