The future of African science is beginning to take shape in Maputo with a clear ambition: to reverse narratives, challenge prejudices and assert the knowledge produced on the continent. This week Mozambique is hosting more than a thousand young researchers from the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), at a meeting that promises to mark a turning point in the way African science is thought of and projected to the world.
The 4th CPLP Young Researchers Conference opens with a record number of participants — around 1,200 young people — far exceeding previous editions, held in Lisbon and Luanda. At the heart of this growth is a firm conviction: research carried out locally has scientific value and should take its place on the international stage.
“We want to foster science on the understanding that local research is also science,” said Cristina Molares D’Abreu, president of the CPLP Young Researchers on Africa Meeting Association, during the presentation of the event in Maputo. She stressed the need to create critical mass among young people and to encourage solid scientific thinking, able to respond to the continent's challenges.
More than a simple academic meeting, the conference sees itself as a space of affirmation. The aim is clear: to combat the peripheral view that still persists about research in the Portuguese-speaking African countries and to value local scientific output as an engine of development.
For four days, the Mozambique-China Cultural Centre will host debates, presentations and exchanges of experience between young researchers and international specialists. The initiative promotes direct contact with experts from several CPLP countries and the diaspora, building bridges between different scientific realities.
The programme also includes a pre-event at Eduardo Mondlane University and the Guimarães Rosa Institute, with workshops devoted to academic writing, cinema and artificial intelligence — areas considered strategic for training a new generation of researchers.
In all, more than 40 speakers are taking part in the conference, while around 60 young researchers will have the opportunity to present their scientific work, in an exercise of sharing and validating knowledge.
For Cristina Molares D’Abreu, the impact goes beyond the numbers. It is a change of mindset. “We want local science to meet the international community and bring value as Africans,” she said, arguing for the need to abandon reductive views of the continent.
The message is unequivocal: Africa is not merely an object of study — it is also a producer of knowledge. And in Maputo, this idea finds a voice through a generation that finally wants to be heard.
