Funding issues, red tape and low pay plague African researchers

Paper surveying 25 institutions in 15 countries identifies ‘common’ problems on the continent

Insufficient lab space, complex bureaucracy, and ‘uncompetitive and insufficient salaries’ are common problems faced by African researchers, according to a recent draft paper. 

The paper, published on the open-access, open-review platform AAS Open, is yet to be peer-reviewed. It draws its conclusions from surveying 25 universities and research institutes in 15 African countries. Institutions’ names and locations were held back in order to protect participants.