Nairobi, a new hub for basic research in Africa

You've just been named as the director of the CNRS's Nairobi office but you've been working as a researcher on the African continent for a long time now.

Benoit Hazard  : I'm an anthropologist and I've been working in Kenya since 2012. My work has taken me from West Africa to East Africa. All of this led me to get interested in heritage issues, particularly heritage studies , and to study the interactions between pastoralism  and arid and desert environments. My research approach has also evolved from mono-disciplinary work to more interdisciplinary projects that integrate life and earth sciences. 

When I applied for this post, I started from my observation of CNRS researchers' relative isolation in East Africa. The organisation had a lesser presence than those of other institutions like the Research Institute for Development (IRD)  and the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD) . That was what motivated me the most so I applied for the post of director for the Nairobi Office to be useful to the scientific community and the organisation I'm part of. I also wanted to construct new types of scientific partnerships to promote and enhance the value of African research.

The CNRS policy on overseas offices is to set up partnerships based on scientific excellence. The CNRS's multi-year cooperation plan with Africa shows how difficult it is for French research organisations to pinpoint scientific excellence in Africa which is not precisely mapped out and is often based more on interpersonal relations between researchers than at an institutional level. Also, the research environment in Africa is complex, particularly because the 'scientific culture' in Africa is different from that observed in 'countries of the North'. The questions our colleagues in the 'South' ask often have their roots in societal and development requirements. The CNRS is a fundamental research organisation and thus needs to develop a scientific collaboration strategy that is distinct from other organisations' approaches. We need to strike a delicate balance between the basic research that is part of our DNA and the capacity to calibrate our research to respond to societal requirements.

When you arrived on October 1st what impressed you most?

B. H.: The office will be housed in the French embassy for the first five months which facilitates our immersion into the local political context and helps us make institutional contacts. Eventually, the office should find a more autonomous setting in a regional university or a pan-African research organisation. This will bring us as close as possible to local partners and scientists and to African scientific leaders.

It's essential to stress that the CNRS is particularly active in Africa through numerous collaboration projects and programmes. In 2024, over 90 projects were rolled out and funded by the CNRS in Africa through its international cooperation tools including 40 that are part of the CNRS Plan for Cooperation with Africa . Two international laboratories are run with African partners. However, the visibility of these initiatives remains too limited despite this momentum. For example, our African partners often don't identify the joint units of French research institutes abroad (UMIFRE)  as CNRS structures although the CNRS is the joint supervisory authority. The same can be said of several research networks like the Great African Rift Interdisciplinary Group (GDR Rift), the African Studies Scientific Interest Group (GIS) and the CIMPA mathematics network. All of these are important platforms for scientific cooperation with Africa.

Some disciplines particularly stand out, like palaeontology, scientific ecology and anthropology. For example, five archaeological missions are producing remarkable results in northern Kenya with three led by CNRS researchers. Examples are Sonia Harmand's research for the West Turkana Archeological project or Aurélien Mounier's work in the framework of the Trans-Evol project. New fields for collaboration are developing, starting with mathematics supported by the CIMPA network which now plans over 15 such initiatives in several countries for 2025. Physics is not being left behind, with the WATCH project run in partnership with CNRS Nuclei & Particles and its recent installation of a muon telescope in the Chullu Hills in Kenya. Then there's the African School on Electronic Structure Methods and Applications which the École Polytechnique and the Technical University of Kenya run jointly. There are also other more interdisciplinary projects focusing on crucial issues like energy and bringing together chemists and anthropologists to work on local issues. One example is LOTER, a project supported by a CNRS Joint Research Programme  (JRP). The new office in Nairobi is fully committed to supporting this dynamism and helping researchers structure and sustain such cooperative ventures. 

Why did the CNRS choose Nairobi for its second office in Africa?

B. H.: The CNRS made the strategic decision to locate this office in Kenya , an English-speaking East African country, to bolster our partnership with this region which is also an African research hub. The office covers East, Central and West Africa. The joint CNRS-IRD-CIRAD office in Pretoria covers Southern Africa. However, geographical borders like this should not be an obstacle to scientific cooperation as the two offices will naturally work closely together to create inter-regional and pan-African dynamics.

The objectives are to develop balanced partnerships and to innovate in training for young researchers. Research - for example in physics - often requires expensive infrastructure and this is lacking in many 'southern countries'. The mobility of researchers could help remedy such gaps. I co-directed a research project supported by the CNRS through funding in the framework of a JRP and we made sure the the budget was fairly divided between the French and African teams which was an important gesture for our partners. The CNRS wants to consolidate this dynamic by driving synergies and jointly developing projects in close collaboration with our African partners. The CNRS's international cooperation funding tools like the International Emerging Actions  (IEA), International Research Projects  (IRP) and the JRPs encourage researchers to associate with others right from the start of projects which enhances this collaborative and proactive dynamic.

The Nairobi office is a feature of the CNRS's multi-year cooperation plan with Africa. How will it contribute to this strategy?

B. H.: This office was born directly from this cooperation plan and our contribution is based on four main missions. The first is to promote the CNRS's visibility in Africa, particularly as regards logistics and organising events like conference cycles to bring colleagues from the CNRS and our African partners together. Such events are essential for establishing mutual understanding and lasting scientific cooperation.

Next, the office will regularly monitor funded projects as its geographical coverage includes a number of collaborative projects with CNRS financing. We'll make sure these projects evolve and are reinforced which contributes to expanding a solid, interconnected research network.

In Europe, we're aiming for close collaboration with the CNRS Brussels office and the CNRS's network of European Project Engineers (IPE). The results of the European Commission's Horizon Europe programme's Africa Initiative  show that our Franco-African collaborations have eligibility rates of 25% which is far higher than other projects at 5%. This highlights the importance of these partnerships and also their significant potential. We'll be raising awareness of our colleagues cooperating with African partners to encourage them to respond to European calls for projects.

Finally, we plan to set up an 'Innovation Counter' as a forum for dialogue between African entrepreneurs and the CNRS's basic research. Innovation in Africa often is often linked more to civil society than universities. In this forum, entrepreneurs' projects will be enriched by scientific analysis, encouraging the construction of balanced relationships that are adapted to the local context

As well local as collaboration, how will the Nairobi office integrate into a dynamic of inter-regional cooperation, particularly with countries in West and Central Africa?

B. H.: Our ambition is to extend the scope of our collaboration by setting up a series of lectures along with other French research organisations. The first will be in September 2025 featuring the researcher Laurajane Smith, a CNRS 'fellow-ambassador' of the CNRS , who is internationally recognised for her expertise on cultural and political heritage issues. This series of conferences will start in Kenya before being gradually extended to the entire sub-region, including West and Central Africa. The office will also step up monitoring of the JRPs and other initiatives that are part of our remit.

Our networks of international laboratories and of UMIFREs mean we can also maintain a strong link with West Africa. We are also part of pan-African networks and organisations like Science4Africa  and the African Academy of Sciences . The latter is represented on the CNRS-Africa Advisory Board and is helping us to implement the CNRS's Cooperation Roadmap for Africa and identify scientific excellence in Africa.

The major fields involved in this inter-regional cooperation include palaeontology, archaeology, conservation and biodiversity along with mathematics and microbiology applied to health. It also includes the study of volcanic areas (seismology, geosciences). All these fields have a wealth of potential. The Nairobi office will also play a key role in scientific monitoring to help enhance our organisation of research projects, particularly in palaeontology.

What are your ambitions for the new office in the next five years?

B. H.: Our priority is to establish the CNRS's presence in the region as a fundamental research institution that is recognised by our African partners. We're aiming for new collaborations as well as continuing existing collaboration projects. These could including setting up an international sub-regional laboratory in Nairobi as this city that could become a key hubfor the CNRS.

Finally, we are moving into an environment where other stakeholders are already present. This makes it essential to respect local dynamics and drive harmonious cooperation by constructing a 'Team France' combined with a 'Team Europe' approach to balanced partnerships.