Ambassador Baum's opening speech: Horizon 2020 workshop, Gaborone, 15 May

1. Introduction

• On behalf of the European Union, I wish to welcome all of you to this information session on Horizon 2020.
• I am happy to be with you this morning for the opening ceremony of the Horizon 2020 Seminar whose objective is to present opportunities available to the SADC region stakeholders in the area of research, innovation and higher education to collaborate with their counterparts in Europe.
• We are honoured by the presence of …………..from the Ministry of Tertiary Education, Research, Science and Technology, who is a leading figure and a strong supporter of science in Botswana.

2. EU-Africa cooperation

• In an ever changing world, one thing is sure: Africa and Europe will remain each other’s closest neighbors. Africa’s 55 countries and the European Union’s 28 Member States have a shared neighborhood, history and future.

• It was in this spirit that African and European leaders as well as the presidents of the continental institutions came together in 2007 to establish a Strategic Partnership.

• The Africa-EU Partnership is a Partnership of peace and democracy, of prosperity and of the people and reflects the commitment on both sides to work together on equal and long-term footing on priorities identified jointly, which are of common interest to both Africa and the EU and significantly impact on the daily lives of citizens on both continents.

• The Partnership also expands cooperation into promising new areas of common interest such as, energy, migration, mobility and employment, or science, technology and innovation and space applications;

• 2017 represents a key point for the Partnership between Africa and the EU as it paves the way to future cooperation after the expiry of the Cotonou Agreement in 2020. The G7 and the G20 in June up to the Africa-EU Summit in November all focus on Partnership between Africa and the EU.

3. Horizon 2020

• Horizon 2020 is the EU's 80 billion research and innovation programme, almost BWP 900 billion through which we implement this international cooperation strategy on research and innovation. Hence, it is the largest multinational research programme in the world.

• The programme is entirely open to the world, including to researchers and innovators from Botswana and the rest of the SADC region who are also eligible for funding.

• The programme is built around three pillars: Excellent Science, Industrial Leadership and Societal Challenges. You will hear all about it in a subsequent presentation this morning.
• In its first two years, Horizon 2020 attracted over 76,000 eligible proposals. To date, over 9,000 grant agreements have been signed for a total amount of almost 16 billion euros.

5. The role of science, technology and innovation in development

• Investment in Research and Development is essential for economic development and job creation. A recent OECD study has found that around 60% of recent growth in the EU has been due to investment in R&D.

• Commitment to R&D spending in the European Union is set to reach 3% of EU Gross Domestic Product in 2020. It currently is around 2% of Gross Domestic Product. In Africa, the target is set to reach 1% of GDP by 2024. The current average in Sub-Saharan Africa stands at 0.45% of GDP.

• More importantly, research results need to feed back into society through their uptake into policies as well as marketable solutions.

6. The role of science, technology and innovation in EU-Africa cooperation

• As Africa and the EU are in wide agreement about the essential role of science, technology and innovation, within the Africa-EU Partnership, the EU-Africa High Level Policy Dialogue on science, technology and innovation exist since 2010 and allows us, the European Commission, the African Union Commission, African countries and EU Member States to share information and experience, establish and implement joint priorities in this domain. This Dialogue is entirely in line with Africa's Science Strategy, STISA 2024.

• Since the EU-Africa Summit 2014 and in line with the Science Agenda for African Agriculture and the Sustainable Development Goals, our focus has gone to jointly developing and implementing a research agenda on food and nutrition security.

• With this agenda, we aim to improve food production with a reduced environmental impact, we aim to address the double-burden of micro-nutrient deficiency, under-nutrition and obesity and we aim to look at non-tariff barriers to trade, intra-African trade as well as EU-Africa trade.

• From the SADC region, only Madagascar and South Africa are currently actively involved in this EU-Africa Research and Innovation Partnership on food and nutrition security and sustainable agriculture. Here I see clear scope for stronger SADC involvement.

• In view of the Africa-EU Summit 2017 and in line with COP21, COP22, we will turn towards a second focus area in the EU-Africa High Level Policy Dialogue on science, technology and innovation, the one of climate change and sustainable energy, as outline by the recently published joint communication for a renewed impetus of the Africa-EU Partnership.

• One final program that I would like to bring to your attention is the 2 billion euros European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership.
• The programme currently involves 14 African and 14 European countries. From the SADC region, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia are full members of the General Assembly of the Programme, meaning they decide on the priorities and financially contribute to the program.

7. SADC participation in Horizon 2020

• 124 research organisations from SADC currently participate in 90 Horizon 2020 collaborative research projects. Research organisations from Botswana are involved in 3 of these projects.

• To give an example, the Waternet Trust in Botswana participates in AfriAlliance, bringing African and European stakeholders together in the areas of water innovation, research, policy, and capacity development to support the preparation of Africa for future Climate Change challenges.

• In the previous EUs research programme entitled the seventh Framework Programme,  386 research organisations have been involved in 320 different collaborative research projects.

8. Why is the European Union organising a seminar on Horizon 2020 here in Botswana?

• Firstly, Horizon 2020 is open to the world and the legislation establishing these programmes are meant to promote cooperation with partner countries based on common interest and mutual benefit. This seminar is therefore an important occasion for us to explore opportunities to further  enhance our cooperation

• In addition, the European Union is committed to continue to support Botswana in achieving its vision to graduate into a high income country. In line with this vision, and following discussions with government, we have decided to focus the 11^th EDF National Indicative Programme on private sector development, so as to make a contribution to economic diversification and inclusive growth. To this end the promotion of vocational skills will be built in the future cooperation programme. Botswana wants to make the leap from a mineral based economy to an economy based on skills. This requires the country to move ahead decisively with its reform of the education sector whose drafting was facilitated by the European Union.  And a strong education sector goes hand in hand with the capacity of universities to drive research. Under the EduLink Programme Botswana has already benefitted from EU support for establishing partnerships with other Universities. Horizon 2020 offers many more opportunities and I encourage the country's research community as well as those of all SADC countries to reach out for those.
•   Moreover, it has been proved that research and innovation also create investment opportunities for new and better products and services and therefore have the potential to increase competitiveness and employment. This is why the EU has invested significantly in these sectors to achieve the Europe 2020 strategy, the EU growth strategy for the coming decade, which set the objectives of a smart, sustainable and inclusive economy.
• The SADC Member States have a common agenda regarding the development of science and technology in the region. There is this willingness to develop and strengthen national systems of innovation. In the first couple years of this programme, the EU has noted that the SADC region has submitted too few proposals to benefit from the resources of this programme. I trust that this workshop will increase the opportunities of future collaboration between EU and SADC partners.

• Finally, we are all aware that there is an increasing number, scope and complexity of global challenges such as climate change, resource scarcity, or infectious diseases. Those challenges are important drivers for research and innovation and the EU and Botswana are determined to work together to address global challenges: this is a key message that we conveyed during the last political dialogue between the EU and the SADC region and the one with Botswana recently.

9. Conclusion

• I believe that the SADC region can do much better in the programme and that we can do much more together.
• One of the elements that we know is important from experience, is access to information about the programme. This is why we have organised the information session today and invited you to it as you are an important player in the research landscape in the SADC region.
• We also count on you, to take the information on Horizon 2020 back with you to your institutions and help set up a support network of information multipliers in the country. 

I thank you for your attention and hope you will learn a lot from today's information session.