Video: PAMAfrica-SINDOFO symposium – keynote discussion

Anticipation was high between the moment Dr Eusebio Macete, General Director of Empresa Farmácias de Moçambique, received confirmation from EDCTP that the symposium proposal he submitted on behalf of the PAMAfrica and SINDOFO consortia was accepted and the moment he welcomed the audience to the same symposium at the 11th EDCTP Forum this 8 November in Paris, France. 

Entitled ‘A paradigm shift towards local and gender balanced leadership, promoting equitable partnerships and next generation African leaders: PAMAfrica-SINDOFO case studies’, the symposium sought to shine a light on and discuss solutions to the challenges around building research capacity in sub-Saharan countries, a core EDCTP objective. A keynote discussion with former Executive Director of EDCTP Professor Charles Mgone – featuring Eusebio Macete and Medicines for Malaria Venture’s Director of Clinical Operations, Helen Demarest (Switzerland) –set the stage for the symposium, which featured case studies by Professor Ghyslain Mombo-Ngoma, Head of Clinical Operations, CERMEL, (Gabon) and Group Leader at BNITM, (Germany), and real-life reflections by PhD students Dr Dearie Okwu, CERMEL and Dr Jessica Dalsuco, CISM (Mozambique). 

Recorded in advance of the EDCTP Forum to account for the fact that Prof. Mgone could not attend the forum in person, in the keynote discussion he shares his thoughts on capacity building, shifting the paradigm of traditional North-South collaboration, fostering equitable partnerships and building African leadership in research. Watch as he shares his insights on the evolution of EDCTP as well as his vision for the future of African research in the video below.