This report analyzes Africa's current performance in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) research, as well as future trends. In March 2014 several African governments' ministers agreed on a Joint Call for Action in Kigali to adopt a strategy that uses strategic investments in science and technology to accelerate Africa toward a developed knowledge-based society within one generation. The World Bank and Elsevier are partnering on this report to examine the research enterprise over a decade from 2003 to 2012 of three different geographies in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA): West and Central Africa, East Africa, and Southern Africa. The research performance of these regions is compared to that of South Africa, Malaysia, and Vietnam; the latter two countries had a comparable research base to the SSA regions at the beginning of the period of analysis. This report presents four main developments over the past decade in research in SSA: sub-Saharan Africa has greatly increased both the quantity and quality of its research output; SSA research output in STEM lags that of other subject areas significantly; SSA, especially East Africa and Southern Africa, relies heavily on international collaboration and visiting faculty for their research output; and research collaboration in Africa features a number of particular characteristics that are critical to understand for the design of successful policies.