INGSA-Africa held an end-of-year chapter meeting on Monday, 9 December 2024 from 14.00 to 15.30 UTC with a total participation of 38 made up of SC members, past and present mentees and mentors of the Science Advice Skills Development Programme (SASDP), registered chapter members and network partners.

Dr David A. Mbah, FCAS, Former Executive Secretary of the Cameroon Academy of Science (CAS), in a Keynote Address gave a vivid account of the Role of Science Academies in the Genesis/Foundation of Evidence – based Science Advice in Africa. In his conclusion, Dr Mbah asserted that the progress/evolution of EBSA by Science Academies is continuing with increase in number of Academies. He maintained that although links of the Academies vary from legislative through executive decisions to test governing scientific associations, actions by some Presidents suggest a promising evolution.

Dr Moses O. Alfred, an alumnus mentee of the 2^nd cohort of the SASDP gave a progress report on the dissemination and implementation activities of his project output., followed by an overview of the chapter’s activities in the year ending and its 2025 workplan plan Dr Richard L.K. Glover, Regional Programme Officer of INGSA-Africa

During the brainstorming and feedback session following, Dr Nega Emiru, a SASDP mentor intimated that to ensure sustainability of the SASDP and to meet increasing demand from the continent, the program should be scaled up through establishment of partnerships with funding agencies and development partners like the AfDB, AUDA- NEPAD, EU, Sida and DFID-UK Foreign Office for Development.

Dr Salem Saumtally, another SASDP mentor expressed the desire for the Mauritius Academy of Sciences to benefit from the proposed capacity strengthening initiative in policy brief writing when it takes off next year.