President Paul Kagame is in Senegalese capital Dakar, for the Next Einstein Forum (NEF)—taking place in Africa for the first time.

The forum, which runs from March 8 to 10, has attracted over 700 participants from 80 countries to deliberate on how best to support the emergence of Africa on scientific and technological level.

The NEF is a biennial global gathering of the ‘great minds’, aiming at positioning science at the centre of global development efforts, with main focus on youth.

President Kagame is expected to make a keynote address at the opening of the three-day conference today.

Thereafter, he will be on the presidential panel which will discuss how government, educational and industrial leaders can work together to build the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) talent pipeline needed to solve global problems.

Ten African Heads of State and global science leaders are expected to attend the summit, according to the organisers.

"All voices to be heard and have major impact on Africa’s scientific future, through mentoring young people and through influencing continental science policy,” a statement on NEF summit website reads in part.

NEF intends to partner with the African Union, among other partners across the spectrum, to bring about sustained progress of placing science and technology at the centre of the continent’s development agenda.

Rwanda will be hosting the next NEF forum in kigali in 2018 and the global secretariat of AIMS will be based in Rwanda.

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