Date: January 28, 2026
Location: University of Nairobi
Keynote: H.E. Chief Fortune Charumbira, President of the Pan-African Parliament
Following the successful Sensitive Data Conference on January 27, 2026, the academic focus shifted the very next day to a broader, more urgent theme: “Talking and promoting African consciousness in African academic institutions.”
Hosted by the University of Nairobi, the event opened with a landmark announcement. Senator Danson Mungatana, the Acting Vice Chancellor of UoN, along with the Vice Chancellors of Tangaza University and Equator University (Prof. Mirjam van Reisen and Prof. Mpezamihigo), officially announced the registration of the Africa University Network on FAIR Open Science (AUN-FOS).
With the stage set for collaboration, H.E. Fortune Charumbira delivered a lecture that served not as a polite academic address, but as a wake-up call.
The Burning Platform
The central thesis of H.E. Charumbira’s address was a stark realization: “Our universities are relaxed, yet we are sitting on a burning platform.”
The institutions tasked with providing the capacity, intelligence, and direction for the continent are currently too comfortable. The lecture highlighted that universities should be the engine of consciousness and solutions, yet they are lagging behind the urgent realities of the continent.
1. The Youth Crisis and Demographics
Africa is a young nation. Unlike Europe or China, which face aging populations, Africa is dominated by youth (approximately 60% of the population).
However, Charumbira noted that this demographic dividend is currently a crisis. Drugs and idleness are decimating the youth population. The message was clear: We cannot be comfortable with this situation. Universities must stop being ivory towers and start leading the discussions to engage this demographic productively.
2. From Import to Innovation: Food and Health
A significant portion of the lecture addressed the irony of African scarcity amidst plenty.
Food Security: We must stop looking abroad for food. Charumbira cited Zimbabwe’s success story, noting how the nation shifted its narrative from importing wheat to becoming self-sustaining.
The Health Paradox: Africa possesses rich biodiversity and forests, yet we import medicine from Europe.
The Inferiority Complex: There is a systemic lack of confidence in local solutions. Charumbira pointed out that effective local medicines are often barred from pharmacies simply because they didn’t originate abroad. He recalled the Madagascar COVID-19 cure, noting how the Western world refuted it and isolated the country, not because the cure failed, but because it didn’t “conform” to Western standards.
3. The Myth of Funding and the “Paper Chase”
Why aren’t universities innovating? Charumbira challenged the common excuse of “lack of funding.”
“Galileo, when he realized how gravity works, didn’t need funding.”
The lecture criticized the current academic metric of success: Professors with 70+ published articles but zero innovation behind them. The call is to shift focus from the quantity of papers to the quality of tangible problem-solving.
4. Decolonizing the Mind
The root of the problem, according to Charumbira, is inter-generational post-colonial trauma. We suffer from “Projective Identification”—a psychological state where we desire to look and act like our former colonizers.
This manifests in:
A lack of confidence in our own products.
The youth and government needing to collaborate to protect local production rather than defaulting to imports.
Ethnicity in Politics: How tribal lines dictate leadership rather than merit.
5. Rethinking Democracy and Governance
The lecture challenged universities to write the truth about democracy. Is it truly the panacea it is marketed to be? Charumbira cited Dubai as a counter-example: A global hub of technology and a top travel destination that functions efficiently without a Western-style democratic model. The point was not to dismiss democracy, but to challenge the assumption that Western models are the only path to development.
6. Recalibrating Education: The Input-Output Approach
We need to redefine the purpose of our faculties.
The Input: A Faculty of Medicine.
The Expected Output: Medicine.
If a Faculty of Medicine is not actually producing medicine, is it fulfilling its purpose? The curriculum needs to change from theoretical repetition to practical output.
