Dr Bettina Stark-Watzinger, Minister of Education and Research of the Federal Republic of Germany;
His Excellency, Ambassador Andreas Peschke, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany in South Africa;
Participants in the Research Networks for Health Innovation in Sub-Saharan Africa Conference;
Ladies and Gentlemen

I am delighted to speak to you this morning at the onset of this very important conference, sharing the podium with my dear colleague, Minister Stark-Watzinger.  These are exciting times for science and innovation in South Africa, following approval by our Cabinet in late 2022 of South Africa’s new Decadal Plan for Science, Technology and Innovation.  

This Plan, which implementation we have now started, provides an enabling strategic framework to ensure the generation and application of new knowledge, will markedly improve the quality of living of all South Africans.

It struck me that the very title of this Conference, and the Programme, which it is focused upon, directly highlights three key priority areas of the Decadal Plan.  Firstly, the promotion of research networks; secondly the support for health innovation; and thirdly the commitment to Pan-African cooperation. 

The invitation to speak to you this morning, for which I thank you, is therefore an ideal opportunity to review with you the alignment between the Research for Health Innovation in Sub-Saharan Africa programme, RHISSA, and our Decadal Plan, as we count on all of you to be partners in its implementation.

The first area of alignment is networks and partnerships, which will be crucial for the success of the Decadal Plan.  This includes public-private partnerships, networks between scientists and policy-makers, as well as international cooperation. 

We believe that science knows no borders, neither geographic nor between disciplines, and that the frontiers of human knowledge are best expanded when resources, including experience and expertise are shared within the spirit of Open Science.

The networks established by the RHISSA will therefore not only be an invaluable resource for our Decadal Plan but also for the African and global health innovation agendas.  Your efforts during this Conference to enable the more effective transfer of research results into policy and practice is exactly what is also needed in South Africa. 

I will therefore be following the progress of your work with much interest to see what we can learn, as so much quality South African research still fails to deliver the benefit for society it has the potential to.

The second area of alignment is the focus on health innovation, which is one of the strategic thematic priority areas of the Decadal Plan.  Within the framework of the Plan, working notably with our colleagues in the National Department of Health, we will continue South Africa’s concerted R&D investments in the fight against both infectious and non-communicable diseases, as well as science advice for public health policy. 

South Africa has a long and proud history of excellence in the medical sciences, and I am delighted that Minister Stark-Watzinger, was able to visit some of our flagship investment projects, such as our genome sequencing facility, which won international acclaim during the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

I therefore look forward to the contributions of the South African participants in RHISSA programme, in partnership with their other African and German partners, to the implementation of the health innovation agenda of the Decadal Plan.

I am notably thinking of the African Network for Improved Diagnostics, Epidemiology and Management of Common Infectious Agents, as well as the Collaboration for Evidence-based Healthcare and Public Health in Africa project.  

It would be amiss for me not to thank Germany and especially the Ministry of Education and Research, the BMBF, for its investment in the RHISSA programme – it is indeed a partnership we look forward to develop further.

The third and by no means least important area of alignment is the commitment to support for Pan-African cooperation in research and innovation. 

This is major cross-cutting priority for our Decadal Plan, as we will very deliberately continue investing in developing Africa’s science and innovation capacities, including through programmes of the African Union and the Southern African Development Community. 

This is certainly not an altruistic endeavour, but an investment in South Africa’s strategic own national interest, as for South African science to prosper, we need to be part of a vibrant, growing and bigger pan-African knowledge ecosystem.

It is one of my personal priorities in the coming year to develop new programmes and platforms, which will fund and support Pan-African cooperation in research and innovation.  Critically such instruments must in the first instance draw on Africa’s own investments in R&D.  

I believe, Honourable Minister Stark-Watzinger, dear colleagues, that such Pan-African programmes, which are truly African-led and funded, will also enable enhanced partnerships with Africa’s strategic global science partners, among which Germany ranks among the most important – it is an area of collaboration, I, thus, look forward to explore further with you.

Honourable Minister, it is an honour and pleasure to receive you in South Africa.  Your visit as symbolized by our signature last night of a Declaration to establish a Joint South African – German Research Chair on the Just Energy Transition, is an important milestone in the strengthening of South African – German cooperation. 

I am also delighted that later this morning you will be visiting the South African site of the global Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope, a partnership we are grateful Germany though your leadership will be joining.

Ladies and gentlemen, South Africa’s Decadal Plan, which above all seeks to put science at service of humanity, is also Africa’s plan, and it is also Germany’s plan – we therefore look forward to close cooperation with all of you in achieving its vision of a better South Africa, in a better Africa, in a better world. 

In conclusion, I would like to quote the words of the first President of democratic South Africa, President Nelson Mandela, when he spoke to the German Bundestag on 22 May 1996, to thank all those in Germany who had supported the first against apartheid.

President Mandela said then, reflecting on German support for South Africa’s struggle for freedom and democracy:

“As we toiled together to attain that freedom, together we knew that its realisation would be a source of mutual enrichment.”

Ladies and gentlemen, our work is not done and much more must be done to cement this freedom, in South Africa and elsewhere, starting with the decisive defeat of poverty, inequality and insecurity.  This is a shared mission for both Germany and South Africa, which as President Mandela stated in 1996, will be for our shared and mutual benefit.

I thank you. Vielen Dank, dankeschon.