2018 Tutu Fellow Edzai Zvobwo has been appointed an Expert Contributor to the High-Level Panel on Emerging Technologies - APET - at the African Union's Development Agency, NEPAD. In 2016, African heads of government instructed NEPAD to establish a system to obtain expert contributions on matters of technology development and acquisition for economic development.

Edzai's role in the team will be to meaningfully research, analyze and present findings around emerging technologies and their potential benefit on the African continent.

APET identified ten emerging technologies as priority areas of relevance for Africa’s socio-economic development. These are: Gene drives; Microgrids; Drones for precision agriculture; Next-generation medicine; Artificial intelligence; Urban agriculture; Synthetic Biology (Gene Editing); 3D printing; Next-generation batteries; and Water purification. The organisation has evaluated these technologies for some of the highest impact for Africa, for example, gene drives for the control and elimination of malaria,drones for increasing agricultural productivity and micro-grids for alleviating energy insufficiency in Africa.

APET provides knowledge-based advisory services and technical assistance to African Union Member States and Regional Economic Communities to strengthen their capacity. It also acts as the continent's technical interface on policy development recommendation and implementation and it helps to coordinate and execute priority regional and continental projects.

Read more on his appointment at LinkedIn.