Government strongly believes in the power of research and innovation as the cornerstone of economic growth and sustainable development and remains committed to fostering an environment for innovations and technological advancements to thrive, Sam George Nartey, minister for communications, digital technology and innovations, has said.
Speaking at the second edition of the Africa Research and Innovation Commercialization Summit (ARICS 2025) in Accra, he indicated that his ministry will spearhead the transformation of innovation into economic opportunities that will drive job creation, youth empowerment and sustainable development.
The minister also acknowledged the sweeping impact of innovation and research commercialization across various sectors of the economy—from education, where teachers are designing creative teaching tools, to similar technology breakthroughs in other key areas including the agriculture and health value chains.
“ARICS 2025 is a testament to the shared commitment of government and private sector to leverage research and innovation to drive the industrial transformation across economies,” said in a speech read on his behalf.
He added: “The huge potential of local innovators and researchers are underdeveloped due to the lack of coordinated efforts; government recognizes this challenge and will work with stakeholders to change this situation.”
Mr. Nartey commended the Heritors Lab and its funding partner RISA Fund as well as ecosystem players for their relentless effort in advancing research commercialization in Ghana and across the continent.
ARICS is a flagship gathering of researchers, innovators, the business community and policymakers to discuss practical solutions and roadmaps that will instigate the commercialization of research and innovations for the broader economic gains.
This year’s edition was on the theme: “From labs to market; upscaling industry uptake of research and innovation outcomes”.
Chief executive officer of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Seth Twum Akwaboah, emphasized the need to connect research, industry, and infrastructure to achieve shared development goals.
“Africa produces significant research, but transitioning these innovations into market-ready products remains a challenge.
A strong and sustained collaboration between research institutions and the private sector is therefore essential to drive innovation and commercialization,” he said.
Also, to ensure sustainable economic growth, Mr. Akwaboah called for sustainable investment in technology infrastructure and policies that support industrialization and commercialization.
On his part, the vice president of Heritors Labs, Kofi Ocloo, bemoaned the high rate of African discoveries that remain hidden in research labs and called for urgent steps to entrench commercialization of innovation and research outcomes across the continent.
“Our local industry and entrepreneurs travel abroad for solutions when home-made solutions remain in our labs. As stakeholders, we must ensure that research is transformed into solutions that change lives across the continent,” he said.
He added: “The theme for this summit challenges governments, industry captains, and young innovators to bridge the gap between research and industry; we must make innovation the driving force for economic growth.”
Country technical lead for the RISA Fund, Gameli Adzaho, stressed that ARICS 2025 was the right platform for scaling research commercialization, bringing together ecosystem actors to identify actions that would push innovation and research to larger markets for broader adoption.
He said the fund will continue to facilitate collaborations that enhance innovation and research impact and called for interventions that will rope in rural communities, close the gender gap, and empower young researchers and innovators.
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