CSIR's Dr Rachel Chikwamba greets Mrs Maria Teixeira of Angola's Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology.
The second of a series of ministerial visits from southern Africa took place at the CSIR on 27 March 2012 when Angola’s Mrs Maria Teixeira, Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology, and a delegation of senior officials visited the CSIR. The visit took place at the request of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) within the context of the bilateral agreement between Angola and South Africa, to learn more about the CSIR’s research activities and identify possible areas of cooperation. It was organised by the CSIR Strategic Alliances group and hosted at Meraka by Kagiso Chikane.
The delegation was received by Dr Rachel Chikwamba, Group Executive: Strategic Alliances and Communication, who highlighted the importance of identifying technology of interest to both countries.
In response, Mrs Teixeira thanked the CSIR for the demonstrated hospitality during her first visit to the organisation, which had been preceded by a visit to the Centre for High Performance Computing in Cape Town. She highlighted the need for broad African development to be supported by higher education, science and technology and added, “Following 30 years of peace in Angola, we hope to get meaning and clear knowledge in this regard from South Africa and the CSIR.”
The Angolans indicated their interest in the CSIR’s research activities, in particular, its Advanced Fire Information System (AFIS), in the light of the fact that Angola has the most fires on the African continent.
There will be collaboration with Angola through the DST.
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