Science librarianship in Africa

Science librarianship is a relatively new specialty in the library profession in Africa as the bulk of the early librarians had a background in the Arts and Humanities. Unfortunately there is a dearth of science librarians on the continent and the need for science librarians is more crucial to help support meaningful scientific research and development on the continent. Why does the gap exist? What are Library and Information Science (LIS) schools doing to entice, attract, enroll, motivate, and train science librarians? What are the professional associations doing to promote the cause of science librarianship? What are academic and research libraries doing to retain and stop science librarians from invading or migrating to other niches. This paper attempts to provide answers to the above questions with input and insight from across the continent.