TY - JOUR T1 - Africa’s contribution to the science of the COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2 pandemic JF - BMJ Global Health JO - BMJ Global Health DO - 10.1136/bmjgh-2020-004059 VL - 6 IS - 3 SP - e004059 AU - Musa Abubakar Kana AU - Ronald LaPorte AU - Assan Jaye Y1 - 2021/03/01 UR - http://gh.bmj.com/content/6/3/e004059.abstract N2 - Summary boxCompared with other parts of the world, the spread of COVID-19 in Africa appears to be different and potentially with a less severe outcome; Africans publishing on COVID-19 in Africa is important for creating locally relevant knowledge to address the pandemic.Africans contributed just 3% of the global share of 36 326 indexed publications on SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 at 10 months into the pandemic.There were two dominant African COVID-19 publication coauthorship clusters mainly involving South Africa, Egypt and Nigeria; these link to over 100 African and non-African countries.African research groups should intensify and sustain intracontinental collaboration to generate a more accurate picture of what is going on in Africa as the pandemic evolves.Active research in Africa that culminates in collaborative networks within the continent will be a means to impact on preparedness for future emerging infections.'Science knows no country, because knowledge belongs to humanity, and is the torch which illuminates the world’, said Louis Pasteur. Over 200 years after this statement, scientists of various disciplines worldwide are today racing against time to understand a new infecting virus, SARS-CoV-2, in order to develop safe and effective interventions to control a raging pandemic. Scientists typically work quietly at a planned pace, but the COVID-19 pandemic altered the priority, methodology and speed by which science is conducted, communicated and translated.1 Haste to find answers could yield unusable or untrustworthy results, which is an early lesson of this paradigm shift.2 Paradoxically, the scientific and technological advancements of the 21st century offer assurance for a fast end to the pandemic, but on the other hand, the globalised communication infrastructure fosters anxiety in the population. Global transmission of SARS-CoV-2 was initially facilitated by fast transport movements, while high-speed internet enabling 24 hours live streaming of news and ubiquitous social media transmitted fear … ER -