GNPC was one of the sponsors for this year’s week-long 2nd International Pan African Conference on Crystallography, which was held at the Bank of Ghana Conference Hall at the University of Ghana. Organized by the International Union of Crystallography, in collaboration with the University of Ghana, under the theme, ‘Crystallography, a tool for sustainable development’ the conference was organized to highlight potential uses for this cutting-edge technology, particularly in relation to sustainable development in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Conference was officially opened by Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (on behalf of President Akufo-Addo) and was well attended by over 300 global researchers, academics, students and the general public. In the opening speech, President Akufo-Addo pledged Government’s support to spearhead the African Light Source initiative and make it an official project of the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

He said, “We also have plans to provide bursaries for students in synchrotron-related science and technology, as well as visiting appointments for post-PhD scientists and engineers, both Ghanaian to light sources and personnel from light sources to Ghana.”

Crystallography is the study of electromagnetic radiation (i.e. the light that is not visible to the naked eye) and this year’s conference addressed the various uses for this technology. Current uses include light sources employed to generate radio, microwave, infrared, visible, ultraviolet, X-ray and gamma-ray light. Additionally, Crystallography has proven to be a powerful tool to study the biology of diseases (e.g. as an alternative to chemotherapy in the targeting of cancer cells).

The programme, which started on Monday, 28th January 2019 with a workshop for participants, ends on Saturday, 2nd February 2019.