Indigenous Knowledge in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities. An Inaugural Lecture by Anwar Osman Centre for Africa Studies

Although African Indigenous Knowledge Systems (AIKS) have existed for thousands of years, their concept and practice began to emerge in the science spheres only three decades ago. The development of new political, economic and cultural realities and postmodern methodologies created grounds and new ways to approach and embrace the AIKS. That is to say, the political recognition of indigenous people, failure of development planning to achieve the desired results, the growing disillusionment of Africans with the promises of the modern “Western” science at the same time increased public awareness of the value of the cultural Heritage and that ‘science’ must find its locality in the social and cultural context (Nel, 2008), are some of the those new realities and developments.