Regional Trends in Engineering | ∞
Abstract. This section advocates for better engineering solutions for Africa by describing and exploring the current state of engineering across the continent and its challenging contexts and priorities in light of the Sustainable Development Goals. It highlights the challenges facing Africa in terms of urbanization, employment, food, water and energy security, environmental degradation, climate change, natural disasters and poverty, and shows how engineering can help the region tackle these challenges. This section also highlights the many critical issues of underdevelopment in Africa and how engineering is the key to achieving the SDGs for Africa. It argues that quality engineering education and improved standards will create good jobs and economic growth leading to the achievement of the African Union Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want.
Introduction
Regional issues in Africa Social issues and development The need for better engineering solutions is brought to the fore in the 2020 Africa SDG Index and Dashboards Report, which provides an assessment of where African countries stand with respect to the SDGs and their progress toward the goals, with the additional lens of ‘leave no one behind’ (Figure 1). This report also includes a preliminary analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on the SDGs in Africa, which outlines this humanitarian and economic crisis with serious immediate and long-term impacts, particularly on the social and economic goals. The report posits that approximately 60 million Africans could be pushed into poverty and that food insecurity is expected to nearly double. An estimated 110 million African children and youth are already out of school, fragile health care systems are being tested, and women are at risk of being left out even more than before (SDG Center for Africa, 2020). It is also predicted that slow economic activity and lockdowns will increase unemployment and debt, while at the same time diminishing remittances, development assistance and domestic revenue create further risks in terms of financing development and the SDGs. Now is the time for greater self-reliance in Africa, and for African countries to innovate through sustainable engineering solutions and the application of local skills and its abundant natural resources.
The continent of Africa is the second largest landmass in the world and is home to a wealth of cultures, as well as policies and strategies. Economic development varies widely across Africa’s 54 sovereign nations. However, as a collective, Africa is committed to implementing a vision for prosperity: the African Union Agenda 2063.41 A common thread in African cultural heritage is an orientation towards communities, inclusivity, peace, conviviality and long-term partnerships. This section describes engineering in Africa and its challenging contexts and priorities in light of the SDGs. Africa has a young population and faces an array of challenges in terms of inequality, equity, service provision and justice. There are well-known difficulties relating to the provision of universal health coverage and quality education, beneficiation from natural resources and infrastructure, as well as a recognized need to create sustainable cities and to develop a holistic response to disasters resulting from the climate crisis, migration, pandemics or armed conflict. Indeed, appropriate solutions necessitate co-development. As the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Philip Alston, noted in his report to the UN General Assembly, ‘to reduce the harm caused by incorrect assumptions and mistaken design choices […] systems should be co-designed by their intended users and evaluated in a participatory manner’ (Alston, 2019). 41 For more information on the Africa Agenda 2061: https://au.int/en/agenda2063/overview
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