By Benjamin Anyetei
Ghana has opened its first-ever Regional Innovation Synergies Conference, bringing together researchers, youth innovators, policymakers, and development partners to push a unified agenda for agrifood innovation, climate action, and rural technology transfer to drive job creation.
The conference, led by the UG Nkabom Collaborative, the Africa Climate Collaborative, the RISA–BRIInG Project, and a network of global partners, provided a platform for a critical conversation long needed within Ghana’s innovation ecosystem.
And at the centre of that conversation was the newly operational Ghana National Research Fund (GNRF), represented by its Acting Administrator, Prof. Abigail Opoku Mensah, who laid out Government intention to support Research and Innovation Funding in Ghana.
Prof. Opoku Mensah explained that the GNRF has begun the operationalisation process of a National Research Fund after years of delay, following the passage of the GNRF Act 1056 in 2020.
She noted that the Fund is now backed by strong government commitment, including support from President John Mahama, the Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, and GETFund, which is helping establish the administrative structures required for the Fund to function effectively.
She emphasised that the Fund’s mandate is anchored in transparency, inclusivity, and national research priorities shaped through extensive stakeholder engagement. According to her, the technical committee set up as required by the Act works directly with researchers, industry actors, and institutions to identify priority areas for national development.
Prof. Abigail Opoku Mensah stressed that the era where brilliant Ghanaian research ideas “sit on shelves and gather dust” is going to be addressed, insisting that the Ghana National Research Fund is being built to finance real solutions and drive technology transfer across sectors.
Funding must be impactful to society and the researcherss themselves,” she said, emphasising that the Fund’s new systems when completed will ensure transparency, inclusiveness, and direct support for young innovators, women, early-career scholars, and researchers across all disciplines.
She described support for technology transfer and research-to-market pathways as essential pillars of the Fund’s mandate, noting that innovation requires not just great ideas but resources to grow them. “Everybody is talking about funding,” she said, explaining that the GNRF was created precisely to support in filingl this long-standing national gap.
Prof. Opoku Mensah revealed that preparations are underway for the official national launch of the GNRF in 2026, which will be performed by H. E President John Dramani Mahama.
Meanwhile, as a new government agency with its office being set up now, the GNRF Board and the Secretariat are putting in place all the necessary sturutures to ensure inclusive model of supporting research and innovation one that aims to unlock ideas, empower innovators, and strengthen the Ghana’s scientific foundations for years to come.
Alongside her address, Prof. Richmond Nii Okai Aryeetey of the UG Nkabom Collaborative, Mr. Eric Adjei, Chief Executive of the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP), and Mr. Gameli Adzaho of the RISA Fund also shared insights that reinforced the urgency for stronger collaboration and sustainable investment in Ghana’s innovation ecosystem.
Their contributions echoed Prof. Abigail Opoku Mensah’s call for a transparent, inclusive, and fully operational research funding system that turns groundbreaking ideas into real impact.
