German Ambassador, H.E Christoph Retzlaff to co-chair STEM conference

The German Ambassador to Ghana, H.E. Christoph Retzlaff has been confirmed as Co-chairperson for the maiden Ghana STEM Conference scheduled for Friday 28th September 2018 at the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences.

The conference is being held as part of a series of coordinated events to commemorate the maiden Next Einstein Forum (NEF) Africa Science Week Ghana celebrations and expected to bring together scores of participants from Academia, the Diplomatic Corps, Corporate Ghana, the Science, Technology, Engineering (STEM) network in Ghana as well as participants across the African continent.

Under the theme, Accelerating Growth and Development through STEM, the conference seeks to elevate the conversation, foster greater participation and encourage the active adoption of STEM to accelerate Ghana’s development.

The Africa Science Week Ghana celebrations, an initiative of the Next Einstein Forum (NEF), part of the Africa Institute of Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), is scheduled for 25th to 29th September 2018.

The annual multicountry celebrations is Africa’s biggest coordinated initiative to highlight the importance and the adoption of STEM to the propel Africa’s development. The celebrations brings together thousands of participants to engage in coordinated events across the continent.

This year’s celebrations are being held in over 34 African countries including Ghana, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, Rwanda South Africa, Tanzania, Sudan among others.

The German Government, through the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation supports AIMS initiatives across Africa and the German Ambassador is expected to speak to the need for a holistic strategy to foster Africa’s growth and development through the deliberate adoption of STEM.

H.E. Christoph Retzlaff will co-chair the STEM conference with the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Professor Kwabena Frimpong Boateng.

Ghana’s celebration of the NEF Science week kicked off on Tuesday 25th September with a coding and virtual reality outreach for school children in Ho in the Volta Region to be followed by a Practical Science and Open hardware outreach in selected schools within Tamale on Wednesday 26th September.

The celebrations will continue with an exhibition of local innovations of businesses as well as a hands-on STEM activation for selected schools in Kumasi on 27th September.

The Ghana STEM conference on Friday 28th September is the highlight of the celebrations providing opportunities for conversations and exhibitions of the latest innovations and researches that are transforming lives across the continent.

The celebrations will end on Saturday 29th September with a Data Science and Hackathon session for problem solvers at Workshed in Accra and and Open STEM day for pupils at the Planetarium in Accra.

The NEF Africa Science Week celebration is powered by Upendi PR, a leading PR and Communications firm providing total communication solutions to businesses and individuals across Africa.

The celebrations is supported by the MTN Foundation and GhanaThink.