Your Excellency, Idriss Deby Itno, Chairperson of the African Union;
Your Excellencies, Heads of State and Government;
Heads of Delegation;
The Secretary General of the United Nations;
Your Excellencies Former Presidents;
Honorable Ministers;
The Executive Secretary of the ECA;
Heads of AU and UN Organs;
Members of the Permanent Representatives Committee;
Distinguished Guests;
Fellow Citizens from the Motherland and the Diaspora
Ladies and Gentlemen

Africa is a leading global player in terms of abundant human and natural resources, which if strategically capitalized will immensely contribute to Africa’s developing growth story.We believe that economic productivity of our society is tightly linked to the scientific and technological skills of the African workforce. In this regard and in order to deliver on the rising aspirations of African citizens and global expectations, we ensured that the AU Agenda 2063 is underpinned by Education, Science and Technology as enablers for achieving national, regional and continental development imperatives. You may recall that this Assembly reformed the Specialized Technical Committees, and mergedEducation and Science, Technology and Innovation tocreate a strong synergetic coalition of these sectors to deliver on Agenda 2063.

In this regard the Commission elaborated three distinct decadal Continental Strategies for:
1. Education (CESA -2016 -2025),
2. Technical and Vocational Education and Training; and
3. Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA-2024)

These strategies will simultaneously contribute to achieving the Global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and in the long-run, the creation of economic benefits for the continent and beyond through its people.
The Commission continues holistically and deliberately to take strong measures to maintain education, science, technology and innovation on top of our development, cooperation and political agendas. These are central aspects of our society andwe must popularize science among African citizens, empower our scientists and researchers, celebrate their achievements and push spinoffs from their research into sustainable development.

It is with this in mind that I am delighted to inform you that among us today, there are those who have committed themselves to contribute to the development of the continent through scientific research. These African Scientists will receive the prestigious African Union Kwame Nkrumah Scientific Awards for the 2015 as an honour for their outstanding achievements in science, technology and innovation.

May I humbly request Your Excellencies, to join me in congratulatingProf Tebello Nyokong from South Africa and Prof. Umezuruike Linus Oparafrom Nigeria, each will be awarded cheques for the amount of USD100,000. (Applause and Clapping)

Let me also seize this opportunity to thank our Development Partners, particularly the European Commission for their unwavering support not only for this programme but for many more programmes in the Commission. This is one of those flagship programmes that are remarkably contributing to our shared vision for promoting Africa’s development and integration through science, technology and innovation. I would like to also launch, officially the 2016 Edition of this programme.

With these few remarks, I would like to call upon Member States and the Regional Economic Communities and our developing partners to continue supporting our efforts to harness science, technology and innovation in the continent. We need those complimentary efforts to ensure that we take lead in recognizing and acknowledging the contribution of African Scientists to our social and economic development

I thank you.