---
title: "History of science and technology in Africa"
chunk: 21/21
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_science_and_technology_in_Africa"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:40:31.520269+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

=== West Africa ===
Igbo Olokun, also known as Olokun Grove, may be one of the earliest workshops for producing glass in West Africa. Glass production may have begun during, if not before, the 11th century. The 11th–15th century were the peak of glass production. High lime, high alumina (HLHA) and low lime, high alumina (LLHA) glass are distinct compositions that were developed using locally sourced recipes, raw materials, and pyrotechnology. The presence of HLHA glass beads discovered throughout West Africa (e.g., Igbo-Ukwu in southern Nigeria, Gao and Essouk in Mali, and Kissi in Burkina Faso), after the ninth century CE, reveals the broader importance of this glass industry in the region and shows its participation in regional trade networks (e.g., trans-Saharan trade, trans-Atlantic trade). Glass beads served as "the currency for negotiating political power, economic relations, and cultural/spiritual values" for "Yoruba, West Africans, and the African diaspora."

== Science and traditional worldviews ==
Bandama and Babalola (2023) states:

The view of science as "embedded practice", intimately connected with ritual, for example, is considered "ascientific", "pseudo-science", or "magic" in Western perspective. In Africa, there is a strong connection between the physical and the terrestrial worlds. The deities and gods are the emissaries of the supreme God and the patrons in charge of the workability of the processes involved. In the Ile-Ife pantheon, for example, Olokun—the goddess of wealth—is considered the patron of the glass industry and is therefore consulted. Sacrifices are offered to appease her for a successful run. The same is true for ironworking. Current scholarship has reinforced the contributions of ancient Africa to the global history of science and technology.

== Recent scientific research ==
Ahmed Zewail, won the 1999 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his work in femtochemistry, methods that allow the description of change states in femtoseconds or very short seconds.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo has a rocketry program called Troposphere.
Currently, forty percent of African-born scientists live in OCED countries, predominantly NATO and EU countries. This has been described as an African brain drain.
Sub-Saharan African countries spent on average 0.3% of their GDP on S&T (Science and Technology) in 2007. This represents a combined increase from US$1.8bn in 2002 to US$2.8bn in 2007. North African countries spend a comparative 0.4% of GDP on research, an increase from US$2.6bn in 2002 to US$3.3bn in 2007. Exempting South Africa, the continent has augmented its collective science funding by about 50% in the last decade. Notably outstripping its neighbor states, South Africa spends 0.87% of GDP on science and technology research. Although technology parks have a long history in the US and Europe, their presence across Africa is still limited, as the continent currently lags behind other regions of the world in terms of funding technological development and innovation. Only seven countries (Morocco, Botswana, Egypt, Senegal, Madagascar, Tunisia and South Africa) have made technology park construction an integral piece of their development goals.

== Africa in Science (AiS) ==
Africa in Science (AiS) is an online data aggregator site and ThinkTank founded in January 2021 by Aymen Idris, who currently serves as chairman. The focus of AiS ThinkTank is on scientometric analysis of science in Africa, and the main aim of the website is to monitor and display metrics such as AiS Index (AiSi) and AiS Badge that estimate and visualize the research output of research Institutes and universities in a specific country in Africa, and their web site.

== Science and technology by region ==

=== North Africa ===
Science and technology in Morocco

=== West Africa ===
Science and technology in Cabo Verde

=== East Africa ===
Science and technology in Malawi
Science and technology in Tanzania
Science and technology in Uganda
Science and technology in Zimbabwe

=== Southern Africa ===
Science and technology in Botswana
Science and technology in South Africa

== See also ==
List of pre-colonial African inventions and innovations
Ancient Egyptian technology
History of Space in Africa
Maritime history of Somalia
Timeline of Islamic science and technology
Science in medieval Islam
Science in Asia
Science in Europe

== References ==

== External links ==
Timbuktu: Recapturing the Wisdom and History of a Region at Youtube, created and posted by the Ford Foundation
Ancient Manuscripts from the Desert Libraries of Timbuktu at the Library of Congress, US
African Fractals: Modern computing and indigenous design by Ron Eglash, at ted.com
Brief description of the Yoruba number system at the Prentice Hall website
Cambridge Museum: African Textile Collection
Profile of William Kamkwamba, TED Fellow, at Wired.com
African Influences in Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art