1st Nigerian/Portuguese Scientists Conference

(available only in Portuguese)

The first Portugal-Nigeria Science and Technology Meeting is taking place today and tomorrow, December 4 and 5, in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria. The meeting is linked to Nigeria's participation in the AIR Centre (Atlantic International Research Centre). The agenda is available here.

The event brings together researchers and companies from Portugal and Nigeria from various sectors of activity, including space science and technology, biotechnology and the application of natural products in the health, marine, and industrial sectors, production technologies and industrial cooperation, renewable energies, and energy efficiency.

The Minister of Science, Technology, and Higher Education (MCTES), Manuel Heitor, and his Nigerian counterpart Christopher Ogbonnaya Onu, will be present on December 4.

The Portuguese delegation also includes Nuno Simões from UAVision, Francisco Vilhena da Cunha from TEKEVER, Nuno Borges Carvalho from the Telecommunications Institute and the University of Aveiro, Ana Morgado from the University of Lisbon, Mário Rui Pinho from the University of the Azores, Amílcar António and Taofiq Oludemi from the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança, and Maria Manuel Gil from the Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, as well as Ana Noronha from the Ciência Viva Agency.

Nigeria is Africa's second largest economy, with a population of almost 200 million. It is one of the countries participating in the creation of the AIR Centre, with plans to set up a hub for space technology applications.

The AIR Centre (Atlantic International Research Centre) was established in the Florianópolis Declaration, signed on November 20 in Brazil. It is based on an international and intergovernmental platform geared towards the development of research activities in the areas of climate, land, space, and oceans, together with the promotion of new economic activities and the creation of skilled jobs in the Atlantic regions.