The International Planning Committee for the Second Edition of the FARI-2025 to Meet Soon in Cotonou

The meeting of the International Committee preparing the second edition of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Forum for African Research and Innovation (FARI-2025) will be held from 25 to 28 June 2024 in Cotonou, Benin.

The aim of the meeting will be to approve the terms of reference for the scientific committee, draw up and validate the roadmap for practical organisation, and propose the main theme and sub-themes, the discussion panels and the period for organising FARI-2025.

The meeting will be attended by experts from the Member States, scientific networks and learned societies in the Ecowas region, regional and international organisations and institutions, consultants, staff from the Ecowas Commission and resource persons.

The Forum for African Research and Innovation (FARI) is the ECOWAS forum dedicated to science, technology and innovation. It stems from strategic axis 5 of the Action Plan of the regional organisation’s science, technology and innovation policy.

FARI focuses on the dissemination of research results, the promotion of local knowledge and the protection of scientific, technological and intellectual property. It is also intended to be a platform for regional exchanges between the various stakeholders, including researchers, innovators, decision-makers, the private sector and technical and financial partners.

In short, FARI aims to promote public understanding of the role of science, technology and innovation in socio-economic development.  In other words, it aims to raise the profile of regional scientific and technological research, and to create a regular framework for dialogue between all those involved in science and innovation in the region, Africa and the rest of the world.

FARI is also a forum dedicated to promoting inventions and innovation by showcasing the region’s inventors and start-ups. Eventually, it should be accredited as one of the major science and innovation events in the ECOWAS region.