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(This article was first published on <strong><a href="http://forwards.github.io/blog/2017/12/01/r-in-africa/"> Blog on FORWARDS</a></strong>, and kindly contributed to <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.r-bloggers.com/">R-bloggers)</a> </div>
<p>R is used around the world and yet, in English-speaking media at least, we tend<br>
to hear most about what is happening in North America, Europe, and Australasia.<br>
So we would like to highlight some recent initiatives in the R<br>
community from other regions of the world, with this first post in the series<br>
focusing on R in Africa.</p>

<h2>satRdays in Cape Town</h2>
<p>Following the first successful<br>
<a rel="nofollow" href="http://budapest.satrdays.org/" target="_blank">satRday in Budapest</a> on 3 September 2016, a<br>
<a rel="nofollow" href="http://capetown2017.satrdays.org/" target="_blank">satRday in Cape Town</a> was held on<br>
18 February 2017. The event was hosted at<br>
<a rel="nofollow" href="http://workshop17.co.za/" target="_blank">Workshop 17</a> in the Victoria &amp; Alfred Waterfront.<br>
There were three great keynote speakers<br>
(<a rel="nofollow" href="https://twitter.com/JennyBryan" target="_blank">Jenny Bryan</a>,<br>
<a rel="nofollow" href="https://twitter.com/juliasilge" target="_blank">Julia Silge</a> and<br>
<a rel="nofollow" href="https://twitter.com/SteffLocke" target="_blank">Steph Locke</a>). In addition to the invited<br>
speakers the organizers received 41 contributed proposals, of which 23 were<br>
accepted: 3 tutorials, 8 standard talks and 12 lightning talks. Just over 200<br>
tickets were issued for the event and the venue was literally packed. On two<br>
days prior to the conference there were workshops by the keynote speakers.<br>
These were also very well attended.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://i1.wp.com/forwards.github.io/images/blog/r-in-africa/D3S_6897.JPG?w=456" data-recalc-dims="1"><br>
<em><br>satRday was an excellent networking opportunity!</em></p>
<p>A second <a rel="nofollow" href="http://capetown2018.satrdays.org/" target="_blank">satRday in Cape Town</a> is now<br>
planned for 17 March 2018, with two exciting keynote speakers: <a rel="nofollow" href="https://twitter.com/maelle" target="_blank">Maëlle Salmon</a> and<br>
<a rel="nofollow" href="https://twitter.com/StatsOnTheT" target="_blank">Stephanie Kovalchik</a>.<br>
They will be presenting workshops on R package development and sports analytics<br>
with R on the day prior to the conference.</p>
<p>Next year’s conference will be held at a bigger venue on the campus of the<br>
University of Cape Town, which will be able to accommodate even more<br>
enthusiastic R users. Tickets are on sale and the<br>
<a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.papercall.io/satrday-cape-town-2018" target="_blank">Call for Papers</a> is open.</p>
<h2>Software/Data Carpentry</h2>
<p>Since 2015 <a rel="nofollow" href="https://software-carpentry.org/" target="_blank">Software Carpentry</a> and<br>
<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.datacarpentry.org/" target="_blank">Data Carpentry</a> have been enabling R capacity<br>
development in Africa. Software and Data Carpentry host two-day workshops<br>
teaching researchers and postgraduate students foundational skills to assist<br>
with better research software development and data analysis respectively.<br>
The Carpentries are global non-profit volunteer organisations that not only<br>
teach tools like R, Python, SQL, and git/Github, but also run a two-day<br>
<a rel="nofollow" href="https://carpentries.github.io/instructor-training/" target="_blank">instructor training workshop</a><br>
to help technical experts teach more effectively.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://i2.wp.com/forwards.github.io/images/blog/r-in-africa/carpentries.jpg?w=456" data-recalc-dims="1"><br>
<em><br>Highlights from Carpentry workshops</em></p>
<p>Over the past three years more than 30 workshops were run in countries like<br>
<a rel="nofollow" href="https://software-carpentry.org/blog/2017/05/instructor-training-south-africa.html" target="_blank">South Africa</a>,<br>
<a rel="nofollow" href="https://software-carpentry.org/blog/2017/09/mauritius.html" target="_blank">Mauritius</a>, Ghana,<br>
<a rel="nofollow" href="https://software-carpentry.org/blog/2017/09/mauritius.html" target="_blank">Gabon</a>,<br>
<a rel="nofollow" href="https://software-carpentry.org/blog/2017/09/namibia.html" target="_blank">Namibia</a>, Botswana,<br>
<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.datacarpentry.org/blog/tdwg/" target="_blank">Kenya</a>, and<br>
<a rel="nofollow" href="https://software-carpentry.org/blog/2017/09/ethiopia.html" target="_blank">Ethiopia</a>. These<br>
workshops have reached hundreds of researchers and students who mostly had<br>
limited or no prior exposure to programming.</p>
<p>More information about the lessons we teach is available at the websites:<br>
<a rel="nofollow" href="https://software-carpentry.org/lessons/" target="_blank">Software Carpentry</a> and<br>
<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.datacarpentry.org/lessons/" target="_blank">Data Carpentry</a>.</p>
<p>If you’d like to get involved in Carpentries in Africa, please<br>
<a rel="nofollow" href="https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/swc-za" target="_blank">join our Google Group</a> or<br>
request a workshop by completing the <a rel="nofollow" href="https://software-carpentry.org/workshops/request/" target="_blank">form</a>.</p>
<h2>R-Ladies in Africa</h2>
<p>The set-up of a Cape Town chapter of <a rel="nofollow" href="https://rladies.org/" target="_blank">R-Ladies</a><br>
was inspired by the first satRday<br>
conference in Cape Town. All three plenary speakers at that conference<br>
were part of the R-Ladies community and it was extremely refreshing to go to a<br>
conference largely about science and technology where women took the centre<br>
stage. Cape Town is a multicultural, multilingual and multiracial city, but this<br>
diversity is not represented in the R user community. The aim of the Cape Town<br>
chapter of R-Ladies is to grow the female R user community in Cape Town and<br>
bring to it the diversity of cultures, ethnicities and backgrounds present in<br>
the city. By the end of 2017 the group will have had five meetups since their<br>
launch in July this year. They are still quite a small group, but they are<br>
confident they will grow in time. One might expect that there would be<br>
many more people using R in a big city, but issues with congestion and public<br>
transport may form a barrier to people attending. The answer might be to form<br>
even more R-Ladies chapters around different parts of the city so that people<br>
don’t have to travel far! R-Ladies Cape Town can be reached at<br>
<a rel="nofollow" href="mailto:capetown@rladies.org" target="_blank">capetown@rladies.org</a> and on<br>
<a rel="nofollow" href="https://twitter.com/rladiescapetown" target="_blank">Twitter @RLadiesCapeTown</a>.</p>
<p>R Ladies Addis was founded on October 30, 2017 in the course of the 2nd Data<br>
Carpentry Workshop in Addis Ababa, with 7 founding members and 2 honorary<br>
members. Thanks to the support provided by Ms. Anelda van der Walt from<br>
South Africa, an honorary member of R Ladies Addis as well as the R Ladies<br>
community, R Ladies Addis got ready for its first meeting on November 14, 2017.<br>
The agenda of this meeting was to decide the framework of R<br>
Ladies Addis activities. The group has set its special focus on working<br>
with women students and women researchers by offering R training and R<br>
competitions. R Ladies Addis has been invited to reach out to the different<br>
corners of Ethiopia. For the time being R Ladies is present at<br>
<a rel="nofollow" href="https://r-ladies-addis.github.io/studyGroup" target="_blank">https://r-ladies-addis.github.io/studyGroup</a> and can be reached by e-mail<br>
<a rel="nofollow" href="mailto:addisababa@rladies.org" target="_blank">addisababa@rladies.org</a>.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://i0.wp.com/forwards.github.io/images/blog/r-in-africa/r-ladies-addis-ababa.png?w=456" data-recalc-dims="1"><br>
<em><br>1st Meeting of R Ladies Addis on Nov. 14, 2017</em></p>
<p>A new chapter of R-Ladies will soon be starting in Cotonou, Benin. The<br>
organizers plan to have their first meeting in January to conincide with the<br>
start of the new academic year. Follow the group on<br>
<a rel="nofollow" href="https://twitter.com/RLadiesCtn" target="_blank">Twitter, @RLadiesCtn</a> or email<br>
<a rel="nofollow" href="mailto:cotonou@rladies.org" target="_blank">cotonou@rladies.org</a> to find out more! Local R-Ladies also hope to<br>
establish groups in Fez, Morocco and Johannesburg, South Africa; if you are<br>
interested in these groups, or interested in starting a chapter in your own area<br>
(in Africa or beyond!) you can contact <a rel="nofollow" href="mailto:info@rladies.org" target="_blank">info@rladies.org</a>.</p>
<h2>>eR-Biostat: making R based education materials accessible for all</h2>
<p>One of the main problems in education at both undergraduate and master’s<br>
levels in developing countries is the lack of high quality materials<br>
for courses in education programs. The <strong>>eR-Biostat</strong> initiative is focused on<br>
providing <strong>R-based</strong> materials for higher education programs in<br>
Biostatistics/Statistics, as well as introductory materials for<br>
non-statisticians and in future, an E-learning system for courses at different<br>
education levels.</p>
<p>Courses are organized in four clusters and are ready to be delivered in class.<br>
The <strong>Introductory courses</strong> aim to train students in data analysis using R at a<br>
basic level. These courses were developed for undergraduate students, both<br>
non-statisticians and statisticians. The courses within this cluster can also<br>
be used as courses to support R usage in undergraduate programs in<br>
biostatistics/statistics. The <strong>Basic courses</strong> are designed for an<br>
intermediate level and a basic knowledge in statistics is required in order to<br>
follow the courses. The courses within this cluster can be used as training<br>
courses for non-statisticians and as courses to support R usage in<br>
undergraduate programs in biostatistics/statistics. The<br>
<strong>Statistical modelling (I)</strong> and <strong>Statistical modelling (II)</strong> clusters<br>
consist of basic and advanced courses, respectively, at master’s level in<br>
biostatistics/statistics.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://i1.wp.com/forwards.github.io/images/blog/r-in-africa/er-biostat-ethiopia.png?w=456" data-recalc-dims="1"><br>
<em><br>The first >eR-Biostat workshop in Gondar University, Ethiopia</em></p>
<p>Course materials and updated information about our activities are available<br>
online (See <a rel="nofollow" href="https://er-biostat.github.io/Courses/" target="_blank">>eR-BioStat</a>).</p>
<p>Follow us on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.facebook.com/ER-BioStat-1463845487001786/" target="_blank">Facebook</a><br>
and <a rel="nofollow" href="https://twitter.com/erbiostat" target="_blank">Twitter (@erbiostat)</a>. Interested to<br>
contribute a course and/or an >eR-Biostat event? Send an email to<br>
<a rel="nofollow" href="mailto:erbiostat@gmail.com" target="_blank">erbiostat@gmail.com</a> or <a rel="nofollow" href="mailto:ziv.shkedy@uhasselt.be" target="_blank">ziv.shkedy@uhasselt.be</a>.</p>
<h2>Other activities</h2>
<p>Here we have focused on some of the more recent initiatives, but of<br>
course there are many other groups encouraging the use of R in Africa. For<br>
example, several general R User Groups have been established; many are listed<br>
on the <a rel="nofollow" href="http://datascience-africa.org/" target="_blank">Data Science Africa web site</a> and a few<br>
more are listed on the <a rel="nofollow" href="https://jumpingrivers.github.io/meetingsR/r-user-groups.html" target="_blank">R User Groups</a><br>
listing hosted by jumping rivers. On the education side, the centres of the<br>
<a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.nexteinstein.org/" target="_blank">African Institute of Mathematical Sciences (AIMS)</a><br>
often use R in their courses and workshops. In particular AIMS Tanzania is a<br>
partner in the<br>
<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.africanmathsinitiative.net/blog/initiatives/african-data-initiative/" target="_blank">Africa Data Initiative</a><br>
that developed <a rel="nofollow" href="http://r-instat.org/index.html" target="_blank">R-Instat</a> a front-end to R<br>
designed to make R more accessible for students. Going beyond<br>
the classroom,<br>
<a rel="nofollow" href="http://yieldingresults.org/" target="_blank">BeST (Bespoke eStyle Statistical Training for Africa and South Asia)</a> assist in upskilling scientists working in<br>
agricultural development via online courses in R. If you are aware of other<br>
such initiatives, feel free to share them in the comments!</p>
	<p>
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