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Congratulations on getting into ARPL. I’m sure it’s been a tough journey, and yes, I’ll admit, I’m the one who made it that tough.

But there’s a reason for that: to select you. You are so valuable, so precious, that we had to design this whole rigorous selection process just to ensure we ended up with exactly the right people. And that’s you.

Just like with ALA, in ARPL, you deserve to be here, and here deserves you. ARPL’s motto is “Developing the Next Generation of African Researchers.” Now, I know Mr. Hatem might see this as almost sacrilegious, like we’re trying to change the core mission of ALA. But let me tell you, ARPL is not changing it, yet advancing it. While you may not have enough background, let me assure you: ARPL is an utmost necessity, for the absolutely critical gap it fills.

You can’t be a leader without knowledge, and knowledge comes from research. See? It’s a simple path:

Leader → Knowledge → Researcher.

Maybe you were expecting something more profound, more complex, or even hellishly convoluted to explain why a leader needs to be a researcher. Or, more precisely, why all researchers are leaders. But here’s the thing: to be a researcher, you must already be a leader. Although you may be a leader without doing research, sure, you can’t be a researcher without being a leader. And if you’re a leader who doesn’t do research? Trust me, you’re missing out. A leader who engages in research leads better, creates greater impact, and, ultimately, actually changes the world.

Gap

Taking inspiration from Mr. Hatem's words, aside from acknowledging that Africa is bigger, more diverse, more different, more beautiful, more delicious, and safer, I want to emphasize another point he made. He spoke about the next generation of Africa, those who will shape Africa by 2100, a place that will house half of humanity, saying, “they are arriving into the most unequal place in the world. And a place of immense abundance.”

According to the AD Scientific Index, which ranks scientists based on H-index and citations (which you will understand soon), only one African scientist is among the top 100, and just twelve are in the top 1,000. Can you see how dreadful this is? Yet, it is not surprising. African students rarely engage in research outside of graduate school, and it is even rarer for undergraduates to do so.

According to AD Scientific Index, which ranks based on H-index and citations (of which you will make sense of soon), among the top 100 scientists till this moment, only 1 african scientist is among the top 100. and only 12 in the top 1000. can you see dreadful this is. yet, it is not a surprise. African students usually don’t get to do research except while in graduate school, and very rare who does so in undergraduate studies.

Want to hear are some very sobering facts:

• 1% of global scientific research is generated in Africa.
• Only 0.1% of global patents are filed from Africa.
• Africa needs another 1,000,000 PhD scientists to develop homegrown solutions.
• Sub-Saharan Africa contributes about 0.4% of its GDP to research and development (R&D).
• Many West African countries spend less than 0.25% of their GDP on R&D, while most East and Southern African countries spend 1% or less.
• Collaboration between Sub-Saharan African researchers ranges from 0.9% in West and Central Africa to 2.3% in Southern Africa.
• There are only 198 scientists per million inhabitants in Africa, compared to an average of 1,150 per million in the rest of the world. The continent contributes less than 1% to global scientific production.

And then there’s the issue of helicopter science or parachute studies. While you’ll learn more about this later, quite simply, this is where foreign researchers conduct studies in Africa with little to no involvement or credit given to local African researchers.