The Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Mr Kwaku Afriyie has called on both domestic and foreign private sector investors to support Ghana’s Innovation Ecosystem to help train and develop more innovators in the country.
He made this appeal at the 2023 K-Innovation Program Kick-off meeting in Accra on Tuesday.
He stated that intervention from the private partners was needed as the government recognizes the fact that the innovation ecosystem requires active participation and support of the private sector to help achieve the “Ghana, a Nation of Innovation” goal.
The minister noted over the past two years, government has partnered with STEPI to develop a Masterplan for the Ghana Innovation & Research Commercialization Center, which will assist us to turn Ghana into a Nation of Innovation.
“We are focusing on a set of Strategic Technology Areas, which are areas in which Ghana either has strong competitive advantage or is facing severe economic or social challenges.
Among the strategic areas are Agriculture & Agro-processing, Manufacturing, Information and Communications Technology (ICT), Renewable Energy, Health & Pharmaceuticals, Environment, Waste Management, Circular Economy and Climate Change” he added.
Mr Afriyie reiterated government’s resolve to establish robust and functioning innovation support programs to strengthen the innovative ecosystem.
“We are going to do this by developing nationwide infrastructure to support innovation, train our youth, and equip them with the tools for creating sustainable innovations,” he added.
He added that government will support this with a rigorous campaign to transform the mindset of citizens through media programmes and community engagements to propel everyone to become drivers of innovation.
Richard Aniagyei, ISD
