Think of Africa: exotic animals, rugged scenery, war, colonialism, AIDS, poverty -- these are the images that naturally arise. The words "science" and "education" rarely come to mind, which is a rather damning indictment given that science and education are universally acknowledged as two pivotal keys to a more positive future for the entire region.

I'm writing these words from Cape Town, South Africa, where the first annual African Summer Theory Institute is being held. This is a three-week conference for ambitious university science students throughout the whole of Africa, co-sponsored by Perimeter Institute as part of our international outreach initiatives.

This year's institute is focused on fundamental physics, but the intention is to explore different themes each year, from chemistry to medical research to nanotechnology, as the workshop moves throughout the continent.

They are off to a flying start. In the heat of a South African summer, the lecture room at the University of Cape Town is filled with enthralled young students from 10 countries, Benin to Cameroon, South Africa to Sudan, all excitedly making notes on black holes or particle physics during talks by top international scientists who have flown in for the conference.

In the evenings and weekends, students and lecturers go on excursions to see the local sights, continuing their animated scientific discussions as they build networks of friends and colleagues that will extend throughout Africa and beyond.

Better still, our conference is not the only such program. Twenty kilometres from Cape Town lies the home of the African Institute for the Mathematical Sciences, a new pan-African, residence-based centre that grants one-year master's degrees to African students in the mathematical sciences.

Fifty kilometres from Cape Town in another direction lies the newly formed Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study, explicitly designed as a place where African postdoctoral researchers and faculty can continue top-level research without leaving the continent

And then there are a number of South African universities anxious to build on their reputation now that the post-apartheid era has brought them many more international possibilities.

It is not surprising that the lion's share of these initiatives are in South Africa. As the wealthiest, best-developed of all African countries, it is the natural engine of virtually any substantial aspect of Africa's development and the region's best hope for progress.

Developing science and improving education in Africa without South Africa is like planning a moon shot without NASA. Similarly, creating an infrastructure for sustainable development in Africa will deeply depend on their ability to transform their societies so as to promote success in both science and education.

International aid is admirable and necessary, but untargeted aid without the associated prospect of Africans one day becoming independently innovative and productive is like pouring water on to parched earth -- the effect is momentary and of only immediate, limited benefit. The importance of developing African science and education is well recognized by the international community.

The New Partnership for African Development, a global initiative vigorously promoted by the Canadian government among others, was created out of the awareness that the old aid models simply don't work. A cornerstone of its mission is to work with African countries to raise the level of education at all levels throughout Africa and a healthy chunk of its budget is set aside for promotion and awareness programs in science and technology.

African Summer Theory Institute is, in many ways, rather small beer compared with all of this: 35 students (30 per cent women by the way, an impressive ratio anywhere for a traditionally male-dominated field, but particularly so in Africa where women's rights are considerably less developed). Faced with the enormity of Africa's problems, it is sometimes hard to imagine that a program to enrich only 35 elite young minds might do any good.

But even the longest journey begins with the first step. And if you saw the wide-eyed enthusiasm of the institute's lucky students that I have just seen, you, too, might believe that a positive journey for Africa might finally be underway.