How can emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, quantum computing, molecular diagnostics, integrated sensing for precision agriculture, blockchain, and virtual and augmented reality transform science, innovation and economic systems in Africa? Are there signs that the continent is ready to harness these vital new technologies?

These questions were central to the impact of emerging technologies on the Global South science systems, a meeting convened by the International Science Council and hosted by the African Academy of Sciences recently in Nairobi, Kenya.

Given the uneven global distribution of these technologies, particularly in Africa, the meeting invited four African scientists and scholars to showcase some of their life-improving innovative research in a segment on emerging technologies in action.

Computer-aided drug discovery and design

Dr Emna Harigua, a biomedical researcher and data scientist at the Pasteur Institute of Tunis in Tunisia, presented her research on computer-aided drug discovery and design.

In a presentation titled, ‘Artificial Intelligence for Drug Discovery: Success stories and innovation in Africa’, Harigua said her laboratory has identified nine novel anti-leishmania drug candidates, three of which are under preclinical studies and initial validation.

She noted that, whereas drug discovery through biomedical research in Africa is characterised by high cost, long duration, and other complexities, using bioinformatics and artificial intelligence would lower expenses and result in higher performance and faster outcomes.

Her research towards drug discovery combines bioinformatics, artificial intelligence, biology and biochemistry. Building on this approach, Dr Harigua told the meeting that she and her associates have developed highly performing AI algorithms for novel drug identification.

Through the project, Bioinformatics and Artificial Intelligence for Infectious Diseases, which is part of the African Research Initiative for Scientific Excellence (ARISE), a programme focused on scientific excellence, Dr Harigua aims to bring more drug candidates to the market. “We intend to file patents for our findings on drug discoveries for leishmaniasis and malaria,” she said.

Molecular cell biology and malaria

Citing his work using emerging technologies, Dr Laty Gaye Thiam, an ARISE fellow and postdoctoral research fellow at the Pasteur Institute of Dakar in Senegal, explained that he had been using molecular cell biology tools to develop a malaria vaccine.

In a presentation titled, ‘Malaria Vaccine Development: Leveraging genomics and structure-guided antigen design’, Dr Thiam said that he and his associates have taken on the challenge because, due to the genetic diversity of the malaria parasite, an effective malaria vaccine remains elusive.

In that context, his goal is to gather critical information for designing the next-generation malaria vaccines based on the impact of genetic diversity in the malaria parasite’s immunity and vaccine effectiveness. He told the meeting that the global burden of malaria is highest in Africa.

According to the World Malaria Report 2024, malaria mortality was estimated at 597,000 deaths globally in 2023, with 569,000 of them in Sub-Saharan Africa, representing 95%.

The report, from the World Health Organization, noted that children under five accounted for about 76% of all malaria deaths in the region.

However, before vaccine discovery and design are achieved, Dr Thiam explained, scientific insights into how malaria parasites acquire immunity are needed. For this reason, Dr Thiam is using advanced molecular biology tools to establish which parasite lines can be tested for their immune evasion potential, enabling scientists to create the next generation of malaria vaccines.

Getting rid of sleeping sickness

As for Dr Chinwe Chukwudi, a molecular biologist and head of the Vaccine Research Centre at the University of Nigeria, she is on a journey to rid Nigeria and elsewhere in tropical Africa of human trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness). She is a fellow of the African Postdoctoral Training Initiative, a programme implemented by the AAS with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the United States’ National Institutes of Health.

According to Dr Chizoma Ihuarula Eneh, a senior lecturer at Enugu State University of Science and Technology in Nigeria, African sleeping sickness occurs in large areas of savannah, cattle settlements, and woodlands with wild game reserves, where tsetse flies are common and animals serve as reservoirs of the parasite. “The disease may also be found in forests, lakes, and riverbanks, and the most exposed population comprises rural villagers involved in agriculture, animal husbandry, and hunting,” said Eneh.

In a presentation titled ‘Ending Neglect: Shining Light on Human Trypanosomiasis with Molecular Diagnostics’, Dr Chukwudi said she and her team are developing new methods for diagnosing sleeping sickness and other neglected and re-emerging diseases in Africa.

For instance, she noted that, while African sleeping sickness was nearly eliminated in the 1960s, it has re-emerged over the past two decades due to armed conflicts, large population movements and the almost collapse of health-care systems in some African countries.

However, Dr Chukwudi said that many neglected diseases on the continent are not appropriately detected, as scientists and doctors rely on outdated, less sensitive, and even less accurate diagnostic methods. In this regard, Dr Chukwudi argued that African medical researchers should start using emerging technologies to develop new diagnostic methods for such diseases.

Calling for the uptake of new diagnostic technologies in Africa, Dr Chukwudi said there is a need to stop protecting colonial diagnostic interests and obsolete policies. “We should eradicate the slow process of reviewing disease-detecting guidelines and encourage policymakers in Africa to work together with researchers in developing new diagnostic technologies.”

In this context, Dr Chukwudi told the meeting that her team has improved the detection of sleeping sickness from almost zero to 10% by using molecular diagnostics technology. She noted that their data suggests a high burden of undiagnosed and unreported cases of sleeping sickness in Nigeria.

However, Dr Chukwudi was concerned about health authorities’ low uptake of new diagnostic technologies in Nigeria and other African countries where sleeping sickness is common. She cited bureaucratic bottlenecks as hindering disease detection and reporting.

Dr Chukwudi concluded her presentation with a warning that failure to adopt emerging molecular and genetic disease diagnostic technologies and continued propagation of a culture of neglect will create perfect conditions for diseases to re-emerge and epidemics to resurface in Africa.

Tackling the crisis of single-use plastic waste

Further contributing to the meeting on ways Africa can benefit from the emerging technologies, Professor David Dodoo-Arhin, a Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences (FAAS) and the director of the Institute of Applied Science and Technology at the University of Ghana, spoke of how Africa could manage the crisis of single-use plastic waste.

In a presentation, ‘Turning Waste into Wealth: Harnessing plastic waste conversion technologies for sustainable innovation in Africa’, Prof Dodoo-Arhin said African countries are steadily increasing their daily plastic waste footprint. “Many countries are unable to cope with the amount of plastic waste they generate, as only a tiny fraction is recycled.”

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) reports that Africa consumes about 4% of the 19-23 million tons of global plastic waste, most of which eventually ends up in landfills, dumps, oceans, rivers, or elsewhere in the environment. However, whereas the continent’s per capita waste generation is lower than in other regions, UNEP says the growing population and urbanisation, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, drive an increase in single-use plastics.

Amid efforts to reduce single-use plastic waste in Ghana, Prof Dodoo-Arhin has developed a project for the valorisation of waste plastics for fuel production, an initiative to convert single-use plastics into high-value fuels for households, outboard motors and small engines. The project is a collaboration between the University of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, the French Embassy in Ghana and a local municipal council.

“By treating our plastic waste, we not only do good for the environment but also do good business for the local communities,” said Prof Dodoo-Arhin.

He explained that they use the pyrolysis process, which is considered an emerging technology in waste management, renewable energy and chemical recycling. In the case of Ghana’s project, single-use plastics are heated at high temperatures in an oxygen-free environment, producing valuable products like bio-oil, biochar and syngas. According to Prof Dodoo-Arhin, those products could be used for energy generation, fuel production, soil fertility and carbon capture.

Highlighting the project’s success, Prof Dodoo-Arhin told the meeting that adding value to single-use plastic waste requires integrating artificial intelligence and machine-learning technologies.

He said the project utilises AI-powered automated systems for identifying different plastic types, sensor-based sorting facilities, and simulating processes that monitor efficiency. The project also offers training and entrepreneurship opportunities for unemployed youth.

Despite these advances, a common theme at the meeting was that critical questions remain about the pace and scale of the impact of emerging technologies without foreign collaboration, partnerships, and donor support.

Original article written by Wachira Kigotho and published in University World News.