Shun European ideas, African academics urged

rather than consumers of European ideas.
This was said by former vice chancellor of University of South Africa Professor Barney Pityana at the two-day international research conference being hosted by the Zimbabwe Open University in the capital last week.
“As Africans we want to be in the forefront in making our people producers of new knowledge and ideas.
“We should move away from being consumers of ideas from Western countries that who undermine Africa’s potential.
“To make sure that Africa becomes producers of their own ideas we need to understand that research is a central element.
“It is not possible to become an academic without engaging in research,” he said.
He added that Africans should generate their own ideas, which can be used to solve their own problems.
“The continent has resources in abundance and African people can put them to good use for the development of the whole continent,” he said.
Professor Pityana said that universities as influenced the society in various ways, there was need for academics to understand the society for their research work to be accurate.
Speaking at the same occasion, Science and Technology Development Permanent Secretary Professor Francis Gudyanga expressed concern on the need for industrialists to adapt the new technologies to develop the African nations and match with the rest of the world.
“Modern industrial development requires know-how and capacity to adapt, disseminate and implement science and technology for practical uses.
“Africa’s industrial development is, by any indicator, compared to other regions of the world. This is a reflection of the comparatively low science knowledge, technical skills and means to provide sustainable access to and use technology in the continent,” he said.
He noted that it was not only the universities that were interested in results from research as Government also considers results from various researches being done for policy formulation.
Professor Gudyanga said research created employment as new job opportunities arose when new ideas are implemented.