They agreed to set up a range of collaborative strategies including creating fellowships for African researchers in India and exchange visits, the holding of joint workshops, and measures to foster new academic and industrial links.
They also agreed to jointly strengthen selected African institutions, to begin over the next three years with the Institute Pasteur in Tunisia, Benin's Institute for Mathematics and Physical Sciences, and the School of Science and Technology of Masuku in Gabon.
Egypt's and India's science ministers, Nadia Eskander Zakhary and Vilasrao Deshmukh, said common challenges and societal needs in the two regions range from affordable health care to climate change and water security.
India's junior minister for science, Ashwini Kumar, said training and capacity building "should move from discovery science to solution science, and that Africa and India should explore newer models on intellectual property management".
He said India has already proposed to set up pan-African institutions to study food processing and textiles, and an Africa–India weather forecasting centre which could benefit the agriculture, fisheries and disaster preparedness sectors.
On the sidelines of the conference, ministers from Mozambique signed a memorandum of understanding with India's National Innovation Foundation (NIF) to help Mozambique establish a similar foundation that would identify and assist grassroots innovations.
India's growing interest in strengthening science ties has been reflected in the launch of an Africa–India S&T Cooperation Initiative in New Delhi in 2008, a separate S&T programme between India and the African Union launched in 2010, and the annual C. V. Raman fellowships — also launched in 2010 — to enable African scientists to undertake research at research institutes and universities in India.
