The National Research Fund (NRF) has called upon the government to consider and advocate for a substantial increase in the budget allocated to research and development in the country.
The NRF Chairman, Ratemo Michieka, said that the National Research Fund is currently allocated only 2% of the GDP.
NRF is mandated to mobilise, allocate, and manage financial resources to facilitate an effective national innovation system that creates the required knowledge and innovations in all fields of Science and Technology for the growing economy.
Michieka noted that research should be the driving factor for any nation and that without adequate funding in research aspects, there will be hardly any development.
Speaking at the ongoing 2023 Science Granting Council Initiative (SGCI) Annual Forum, Micheka said that the primary focus of the conference is to discuss and identify methods for gathering the financial and material resources required to support research initiatives.
He added that research requires a collaborative effort to explore solutions for African nations’ challenges.
“Many African nations are facing the same challenges of water, trees, food, modern development, and health, and with a unified approach, we can come together, exchange ideas, and learn from each other, moving away from duplicating research already conducted by other countries,” Micheka said.
The Chief Executive Officer of NRF, Dickson Andala, said that the government does support the research initiatives, allocating 2% of the GDP; however, currently, only 0.8% is utilised.
Andala said that the discrepancy raises concern about the adequate financial backing required to drive impactful research endeavours across the country.
At present, he said that 19 universities are benefiting from generating research articles and have been successful in contributing to the academic and scientific knowledge base.
Andala alleged that research institutions have the capacity not only to draft compelling proposals but also to secure grants for their projects.
He went on to mention the steps that need to be taken to strengthen research in the country, increase research funding to provide ample resources for scientific projects, and foster more collaborations between research institutions, universities, and the private sector to bring in new ideas and diverse perspectives.
He also encouraged investment in training for researchers to enable them to learn new methodologies and stay updated on the latest advancements.
The SGCI Annual Forum is set to provide the opportunity for considered input from the region to the Global Research Council’s (GRC) 2024 Annual Meeting on the theme “Effective Research Contributions towards Sustainable Development”.
By Fatma Said
