National Academies of Science in Africa


Academies of Science support the implementation of a nation’s science policy through their dual mandate: promoting and honouring scientific excellence and providing evidence-based science advice to their nations. Since 2008, ASSAf has engaged in collaborative and academy development work with various national science academies. There are over 110 academies of science across the globe, some of which are over 350 years old such as the Royal Society (United Kingdom). In Africa, there are twenty-nine (29) national academies of science namely:

The oldest academy is Madagascar’s National Academy of Arts, Letters and Sciences, which was established in 1902, while the youngest academy is the Academy of Sciences in Malawi which was established in 2021. In addition to the national academies, there is an individual member-based academy, the African Academy of Sciences (AAS) that draws its membership from across Africa.