SPARC Africa has partnered with African Library & Information Associations & Institutions (AfLIA) in a new effort to advance the open sharing of knowledge and research on the continent.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed in December 2020 to formalise the partnership. The MOU sets up SPARC Africa operations as a section within AfLIA, a nonprofit organisation for libraries and librarians headquartered in Ghana with 141 member institutions and associations.
SPARC Africa was started in 2015 to create a forum that would assist with capacity building to open up Africa’s scholarly output and make it discoverable to the international community.
AfLIA has been operating since 2013 to support the interests of libraries and information associations in Africa, including hosting webinars and training on Open Access.
Research in Africa is often not given the same kind of gravitas as in the Global North and different strategies are needed to address the inequity. The intent of the new partnership helps to bridge the divide that exists with infrastructure and skills development needed to push the movement forward.
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