Ghana to host Africa Scientific Renaissance Day

Accra, June 23, GNA - The Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC), under the auspices of the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, would host this year's Africa Scientific Renaissance Day (ASRD) celebration from June 27 to 30.

The ASRD is a day set aside by the African Union to remind all African governments and people about the critical role science and technology play in national development.

The event is in remembrance of Africa's great contribution to the rise and development of modern science and technology, a statement signed by Professor Shiloh Osae, the Acting Director- General of the GAEC, and copied to the Ghana News Agency, has said.

The celebration, the statement said, would be used to highlight the strides made in the introduction of nuclear energy in Ghana's energy mix amongst other gains in the country's quest for nuclear power.

'It also seeks to highlight the gains Ghana has made in Space Science and Technology with the commissioning of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory later in the year at Kutunse, Accra,'' it added.

Agencies under the MESTI would also showcase various technologies and innovations during the celebration.

The statement indicated that: 'The keynote address will be delivered by the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI), Professor Kwabena Frimpong Boateng, at the grand durbar on June 30, 2017.'

The activities outlined for the celebration are; an Open Day and Quiz Competition at GAEC Auditorium, Editors' Forum/Media Familiarisation Tour of GAEC facilities, Seminar Presentations at GAEC Auditorium and a Trip to Kuntunse National Radio Astronomy Observatory.

The event would be climaxed with an exhibition by GAEC, Agencies under MESTI and other institutions of interest at the graduate School of Nuclear and Allied Sciences.

'These activities are open to the general public at 9:30am each day,' the statement said.

The Ghana Atomic Energy Commission was established in 1963 by an Act of Parliament, Act 204 of 1963. It is currently under the MESTI and responsible for the coordination of the International Atomic Energy Agency Technical Cooperation programmes in Ghana.

GNA