For 17 years, she had earned a living cutting and polishing the gems that helped transform Botswana from one of the world's poorest nations into one of Africa's success stories. Diamonds were discovered in 1967, a year after independence, an abrupt change of fortune for the landlocked country. Botswana became the world's top diamond producer by value, and second-largest by volume after Russia. Diamonds are woven into the national identity.
The global challenges of today, from climate-fuelled floods, droughts and heatwaves to food insecurity and health disparities, are felt intensely in Africa. To tackle those, universities on the continent must strengthen their research and innovation capacity. On average, African countries spend around 0.5% of their gross domestic product on research and development. That's less than one-quarter of the global average of 2.7%.
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