Importation of raw materials crippling industries

Jan 14, 2015

LOW levels of research funding in Uganda have been blamed for the continued importation of materials needed for industrial production

By Jacky Achan 

 

LOW levels of research funding in Uganda have been blamed for the continued importation of materials needed for industrial production.

 

The observation was made by Anne Wampamba from the National Science Foundation, US at the first Pearl of Africa Distinguished Lecture Series organised by the department of physics at Makerere University recently. 

 

“There is a lot of innovation going on in the country. Makerere University has an electric car, but were all the materials researched and made in Uganda or were they imported?” Wampamba asked.

 

She said Uganda may not register meaningful growth in its key development sectors if research and innovation for local material are not taken seriously. “We have knowledgeable people in Uganda who can create materials so that we can export quality products that match standards of the developed world,” she added. 

 

Wampamba said with the abundance of knowledge in the country, it is important for the Government to channel sufficient funds into scientific research to support innovation and development.

 

“The only way for any country to develop is to create its own materials. All our raw materials are coming from developed countries. We should be able carry out our own research and create those materials so that they are home-sourced. That is why material scientists are very important to the developing world,” she added

 

She said the lectures will provide an avenue for networking and connecting Ugandan scientists to the worldwide group of material scientists. 

 

Wampamba, however, explained that there is a need to differentiate between theoretical and physical science.

 

“In physical science, you create, but in theory, you write formulas on how to do something and leave it at that. Uganda has people who have written brilliant theories, but there is no money to make their theories practical,” she said.

 

Prof. Nicholas Spencer, the president of ETH Research Commission in Zurich, Switzerland and chair of the Laboratory for Surface Science and Technology, Department of Materials at ETH, delivered the first lecture, focusing on surface science at Makerere University.

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