Dr Victorien Tamègnon Dougnon of the University of Abomey Calavi in Benin and coor-dinator of the consortium awarded by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) under the PARI programme, received this Friday 6 August 2021, his cash prize of USD200,000. The prize was presented to him by Eléonore Yayi Ladekan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research of the Republic of Benin, on the campus of the said university.

Presenting the award to the lucky recipient, Honourable Yayi Ladekan said she was satisfied with the choice of the consortium whose coordinator recently received the distinction of the best young African researcher for 2021 awarded by the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology of the Republic of Egypt and congratulated ECOWAS for the lofty goal of promoting scientific research in the West African region. “Indeed, the introduction of an award to encourage research and innovation reflects an important vision that goes be-yond the daily concerns of the West African community to address more important, greater challenges, which affect the future not only of the West African community but also that of the entire society,” said Mrs. Yayi Ladekan.

Professor Maxime Da Cruz, Chancellor of the University of Abomey Calavi, who spoke earlier, said he was confident that Benin, and in particular the University of Abomey Calavi, had moti-vated and talented young researchers, like Dr Victorien T. Dougnon, who are capable of taking up the challenge of the future, which is a great challenge faced by all the major higher education and research institutions in the region.

Speaking on behalf of Dr. Mamadu Jao, the new ECOWAS Commissioner for Education, Science and Culture, Professor Abdoulaye Maga, Director of Education, Science and Culture, conveyed ECOWAS’ congratulations to the ECOWAS Ministers in charge of Research for their support and commitment to the implementation of the PARI programme. He further stressed that the project submitted by the consortium is an all-inclusive project bringing together researchers from the three ECOWAS linguistic groups (Anglophone, Francophone and Lusophone). “Moreover, this research project, which promotes traditional African pharmacopoeia, also contributes to the fight against the Coronavirus disease and all other endemic diseases that occur in the ECOWAS region,” concluded Prof. Abdoulaye Maga.

During this award ceremony, Dr. Victorien T. Dougnon unveilled the members of his team. Dougnon introduced the members of the consortium from Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Ghana and Togo. The researchers of the Consortium work in the fields of pharmacology, microbiology, molecular biology, virology and immunology.

The project, which will be implemented in these countries, will take place over the next thirty-six (36) months and will improve the level of scientific knowledge on active medicinal plants against antibiotic resistant bacteria and coronaviruses, through a scientifically based evalua-tion of medicinal plant extracts available in the sub-region.

At the end of this research project, several results are expected, namely (i) the provision of useful data on traditional medicinal plants used to treat antibiotic-resistant infections and coro-naviruses in the ECOWAS region; (ii) the building of a regional platform for further collaboration, from and through the researchers involved in the project, with other institutions in the field of pharmacology; and (iii) the development and confirmation of the efficacy of safe traditional African herbal medicinal products against antibiotic-resistant bacteria and coronaviruses

The ceremony was attended by Dr. Roland Kouakou  Principal Programme Officer, Research, Science and Innovation at the ECOWAS Commission, the Mayor of the Municipality of Abomey Calavi, the Honorary Chancellor, and several deans and heads of departments of the University of Abomey Calavi.

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