Ghana and South Korea have entered into a three-year partnership programme known as the K-Innovation Partnership Programme to strengthen and streamline the functions of the Ghana Innovation & Research Commercialization Center (GIRC-Center).
“Through this exercise, the strengths and weaknesses of our eco-system have been analyzed and major gaps have been identified, especially a lack of much-needed innovation support programmes. In addition, we have determined the policy regimes and institutional arrangements that Ghana needs to build a dynamic system of innovation. As a result, a Masterplan has been developed to fill the identified gaps over the next ten years.”
The Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI), Dr Kwaku Afriyie, said at the opening ceremony of the West and Central African Research and Education Network (WACREN) Conference in Accra on Thursday.
He said the government’s objective is to place Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) at the centre of socioeconomic growth by mainstreaming STI in all productive sectors of the economy.
Pursuant to this, MESTI has been positioned to collaborate with other Ministries, Departments, Agencies and the private sector to play a coordinating role to fulfil the government’s agenda.
He noted that MESTI exists to promote sustainable development by deepening and enhancing market-driven Research and Development (R&D) for good environmental governance, science, technology, and innovation through intense awareness creation, cooperation, and partnership.
Dr Afriyie disclosed that the government had started an exercise over the last two years to examine the country’s research and innovation (R&I) eco-system that it aims to attain in the next decade.
Irene Wirekoaa Osei, ISD
