Health related biotechnology transfer in Africa: a critique from a capabilities approach

This article addresses the issues related to the ethical justification for technology transfer in Africa. Two well held but conflicting points of views are examined and an alternative line of thought that seeks to resolve and reconcile the differences between the two view points is proposed. The necessity for developing countries to adapt to new technologies in order to escape the cycle of underdevelopment and economic subservience, and the more culturalist approach, that considers biotechnology to be a form of neocolonialism that local cultures must resist in order to preserve their community values. The conditions of a participative model based on the thoughts of Amartya Sen and Nancy Frazer are analyzed, and conclusions that could associate practical social justice and a negotiated model of development are drawn, bearing in mind the fact that this proposition, without being a mere utopia, remains a horizon of action for global bioethics and models of justice.