Background

The development of science and technology in Africa is the main way to foster the progress of the continent. Most countries in Africa depend on sources of income such as agriculture and mining, without modern technology. The continent holds 54 countries with many different languages, and 36% of people live on less than US$1 per day. As crystallography underpins many sciences, advances in economic and health systems, education and infrastructure, it could be a vehicle for the durable improvement of African economy and society. Indeed, crystallography is essential for the development and improvement of almost all materials and medicines. It forms the backbone of a wide range of industries, including pharmaceuticals, agri-foodstuffs, aeronautics, computing, mining and space sciences. To demonstrate the importance of crystallography, and that this science is accessible and can be performed in all countries without sophisticated infrastructure, the United Nations declared 2014 the International Year of Crystallography (IYCr2014). This was done under the initiative of the International Union of Crystallography and spearheaded by the Moroccan Crystallographic Association, one of the few African Crystallographic Associations. One main activity during the celebration of this IYCr2014 was the Pan African Summit meeting held from October 15 to 17th 2014 at the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa. The summit was organized with the view of shining the spotlight on crystallography in the world and in Africa in particular. The main conclusions were that due to the lack of convenient facilities on the continent, crystallography is not well developed and studied in most of Africa. The researchers working in the field are not connected and do not interact enough; teaching activities are then quite rare and many competencies are lost. The small number of African National Adhering Bodies in the International Union of Crystallography to date and the low number of structures deposited by African researchers in the Cambridge Structural Database are some illustrations of this situation.

To address these issues, the President of the IUCr, the Director of Science Policy and Capacity Building Division in UNESCO, the President of the European Crystallographic Association (ECA), the Commissioner of Human Resources, Science and Technology: Africa Union and some African Government Ministries of Science and Technology, Higher Education, Scientific research and Education, requested through a letter that the IUCr, UNESCO and the governments of African Countries via the African Union and the International Council for Scientific Unions (ICSU; now ISC) initiate and support actions to promote regional scientific collaboration in crystallography. The actions which were included in this letter have been revised by the African Crystallographic Association Steering Committee (AfCA-SC) to develop a strategic vision for the African Crystallographic Association. The closing ceremony of the IYCr2014, held in Morocco in April 2015, incorporated a conference on the theme of 'Crystallography for the next generation'. At this event the President of the IUCr, the Director of the Science Policy and Capacity Building Division of UNESCO, the President of the World Academy of Science and the Director of the International Council for Science-Regional Office for Africa signed a letter of commitment which included resolutions to build capacity in crystallography in the developing world.