Season 1, Episode 7 — Brando Okolo on science diplomacy, African innovation, and building scientific power
Scientific progress does not end with producing knowledge. For Brando Okolo, head of science, technology and innovation at the African Union Development Agency—NEPAD, the larger question is what happens next: who turns research into technology, who builds the companies and manufacturing capacity, who owns the intellectual property, and who helps set the standards that shape the future.
In this conversation, Okolo draws on a career spanning materials science, additive manufacturing, entrepreneurship, academia and African science policy to examine how scientific capacity translates into economic and geopolitical influence. He argues for a broader conception of science diplomacy that encompasses industrial cooperation, health, energy and communications, and describes diplomacy as the work of building relationships around science and negotiating the institutions and partnerships needed to make cooperation possible.
The conversation also explores Africa’s changing position in global science. Okolo discusses what genuinely equitable Africa-Europe scientific partnerships would require, the continent’s expanding relationships with China, India and other scientific powers, and the potential for artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing to shorten the path toward industrialization. He says Africa’s growing range of international partnerships creates more options rather than diminishing its relationship with Europe, while making the case for a relationship in which both continents view the other as a long-term investment.
The discussion concludes with Okolo’s view that science diplomacy itself needs to evolve. He calls for more deliberate training of science diplomats and for a model that connects scientific cooperation with entrepreneurship, investment and economic development. Reflecting on his own move from academia into entrepreneurship and policy, he also considers what young scientists need to move ideas beyond publications and into the world.
Themes covered:
Science diplomacy and Africa’s changing global role
Building scientific and technological power
Equity in Africa-Europe scientific partnerships
Research, commercialization and industrial capacity
Artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing
Entrepreneurship as part of the scientific enterprise
Training the next generation of science diplomats
Recorded on August 7, 2026.
Co-hosted by Amna Habiba, Bupe Chikumbi and John Heilprin.
