Abuja hosts the 1st Science and Technology Meeting Portugal Nigeria

The first Portugal Nigeria Science and Technology Meeting takes place today and tomorrow, December 4 and 5, in Abuja, capital of Nigeria. The meeting is associated with 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 health, marine and industrial sectors, production technologies and industrial cooperation, renewable energy 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 4th.

The Portuguese delegation also includes Nuno Simões, from UAVision, Francisco Vilhena da Cunha, from TEKEVER, Nuno Borges Carvalho, from the Institute of Telecommunications 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 Polytechnic of Bragança, and Maria Manuel Gil, from Polytechnic of Leiria, as well as Ana Noronha from Agência Ciência Viva.

Nigeria is Africa's second largest economy, with almost 200 million inhabitants. It is one of the countries participating in the creation of the AIR Centre, with a pole on applications of space technologies planned.

The AIR Centre (Atlantic International Research Centre) was established in the Florianópolis Declaration, signed on November 20th in Brazil. It is based on an international and intergovernmental platform oriented 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.