The development of societies is strongly marked by years of research and technological advances, which are overcome every day by researchers who renew themselves at each stage of doing science, motivated by new results and new research.
Oscar Sala, writing on The Role of Science in Society, stated that "one of the main characteristics of modern civilization is the extraordinary development of scientific research, be it basic or applied. Science and Technology are the main sources of creativity and dynamism in modern society.
In Angola, the failure and difficulty of scientific research are often pointed out by the lack of investment and political interest in betting on the sector. Former Education Minister Maria Sambo, participating in the Portugal-Angola Science Week event, acknowledged that scientific research in Angola faces two major obstacles, namely: lack of funding and a shortage of researchers.
In the 2015 report presented by UNESCO, it indicates that Angola is in an unfavorable position in relation to the number of scientific articles indexed in international publications. In that year, Angola had only two articles per one million inhabitants, while South Africa had published more than one hundred articles in international magazines in the same year. (CAMBALA, 2019)
Decree No. 2/01 of 19 January of the Ministry of Science and Technology was approved in Angola, establishing the career of a scientific researcher with a special regime with integrations of technical and scientific functions. To affirm that there is a lack of researchers generates a great deal of discontent, since we know that there are selective processes for the entry of researchers, and the question is: Where are the researchers in the country? What has been done in favor of research and scientific production? What is missing for the development of a scientific culture in Angola?
The University Professor Belarmino Vandunem, in a debate led by Radio Nacional de Angola on the topic "Scientific research in Angola, stated that our way of doing science is unhealthy, there is more reproduction of knowledge in universities than construction of science, still verifying a number of professors who do not produce, do not research, and see Universities only as a means of achieving their ends.
In view of the circumstances and the search for solutions to solve the problems of our society, such as the diversification of the economy, it is essential that there is an incentive for the production of scientific knowledge, so that it is accessible to all. Since investment in science, technology and innovation has proved to be the alternative envisioned by many countries to answer these questions.
Angola makes available for the current year (0.05%) equivalent to 7,480,033,189.00 kz of its GDP (Gross Domestic Product), destined to Improve the Quality of Higher Education and Development of Scientific and Technological Research, as disclosed in the Ministry of Finance report. A value
considered little when compared to some African countries that have a "GDP" lower than Angola, such as Malawi.
There are several ongoing projects on scientific research in Angola, one of which is PDCT (Science and Technology Development Project) which receives 90% financing from the AfDB (African Development Bank), and receives only 10% from the Angolan Government, being clear statements about little investment in improving the current framework.
According to an interview with Jornal de Angola, the project director indicated that the funding provided by "BAD", will serve to minimize the shortcomings in terms of infrastructure, human resources and publications, but more actions are needed to develop a scientific culture in the country. in order to address the problems we face.
Here I bring some truths of the current scientific research system in the country, which has been facing several problems as we know.
However, it was contacted, that it is urgent and necessary to create a system that ensures scientific research in Angola, where researchers are not captive to the political goodwill in generating investments for the sector.
We need a system that must integrate some very fundamental aspects in the search for scientific promotion and research, from: libraries to facilitate research on subjects that address various topics, scientific journals from the most different training areas that serve the work of students, teachers, and doctors in the country, incentives (public and private) in order to encourage universities to research, and mass dissemination of scientific subjects.
The current state of scientific research shows us that we still need to do a lot to have a culture of scientific research, and it is necessary that universities, private and state companies are more involved in this process to achieve satisfactory results.
