UK FCDO’s Chief Scientific Adviser, Watts, Visits Nigeria

The United Kingdom’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development office’s chief scientific adviser and director for Research and Evidence, Professor Charlotte Watts, arrived in Nigeria this week to see, firsthand, UK supported projects that are helping to strengthen Nigeria’s science, tech, and innovation ecosystem.

According to a statement issued by the UK mission in Nigeria, during her visit, Professor Watts met with project stakeholders, innovators, and partners in Lagos and Abuja, to explore the transformative impact of these projects on economic growth, job creation, and societal challenges in Nigeria.

In Lagos, she visited the University of Lagos and Hinckley Recycling, beneficiaries of the UK-Africa Technology and Innovation Partnerships (ATIP) programme, funded by the Research and Evidence Directorate.

Hinckley Recycling is a UK e-waste recycling facility that developed second-life solutions for lithium-ion batteries.  While on site, Professor Watts reiterated the UK’s commitment to delivering on net zero in the UK and to work with Nigeria through companies such as the Hickley Recycling to save the environment while empowering livelihoods with clean energy to power their businesses.

She also met with Creative ecosystem stakeholders cutting across music, film and movies, content creation to discuss an ongoing study on Nigeria’s creative landscape commissioned with Evidence Fund by the West Africa Research and Innovation Hub (WARIH).

In Abuja, she met with Nigeria’s Minister of Science, Technology & Innovation, Hon. Uche Nnaji to hear about the Nigeria Government’s plans to develop a domestically funded Science Granting Council and met with Dr Abdu Mukhtar, the national coordinator of the Presidential Initiative for Unlocking the Healthcare Value chain (PVAC).

Professor Watts’ visit highlights the UK’s commitment to strengthening partnerships in innovation, research, and development to deliver shared prosperity and tackle global issues and underscores the importance of the UK’s collaboration with Nigeria to promote innovation and research as drivers of sustainable development and economic growth.

Watts is the most senior scientist in the UK’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development office, providing strategic scientific advice to the Foreign secretary, Ministers, and senior officials on key global challenges. She also leads the Research and Evidence Directorate, which oversees the UK’s significant research and technology investments and supports the overseas science and innovation diplomatic network.

With a distinguished academic background, Professor Watts is a Professor of Social and Mathematical Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Her research has made critical contributions to infectious disease epidemiology, HIV prevention, and violence reduction, including groundbreaking work demonstrating that domestic violence is preventable.

Recognised as a global leader in science and public health, she is a Fellow of the UK Academy of Medical Sciences and a Foreign Associate Member of the US National Academy of Medicine. In 2019, she was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in recognition of her outstanding services to global health.