TY  - CONF
KW  - Africa
KW  -  research and innovation
KW  -  funding approaches
KW  -  development
A1  - Mugwagwa, J
A1  - Banda, G
T2  - The Science Granting Councils Initiative in Sub-Saharan Africa Annual Forum
UR  - https://sgciafrica.org/
ID  - discovery10063959
N2  - It is undoubted that African countries? individual and collective aspirations of economic development through research and innovation are in line with trends elsewhere. Like elsewhere in different parts of the world, African countries have been exploring different approaches, institutional reforms, models and mechanisms towards more efficient and effective funding and financing of research and innovation. This paper derives from a study which used a combination of primary and secondary data sources to inform current debates and reviews on the re-organization of research and innovation funding in Africa. The study specifically sought to identify and analyse ?new approaches for funding research and innovation in Africa?. Study findings show that the importance of research and innovation is rated medium to high and is increasing in most of the African countries. This is demonstrated by practice, institutional and policy provisions for science, technology and innovation (STI), which have been instituted in the last few years. A number of dynamic new funding models have been developed, adopted and deployed in countries and sectors to deal with the realities of decreasing traditional funding for research and innovation sources. These models, encompassing partnerships, co-funding and multi-disciplinary approaches, seek to ensure context-driven, efficient and effective utilisation of scarce resources. Challenges ranging from insufficient political will to lack of implementation plans and uncoordinated approaches to STI were said to be stalling the expansion and sustainable deployment of the new funding models. This study advances a number of recommendations on how science granting councils and national governments can leverage their access to global intellectual resources and convening power to further strengthen availability of capabilities and funding for different stages of the research and innovation value chain.
M2  - Abidjan, Ivory Coast
Y1  - 2018/11/06/
AV  - public
TI  - New approaches for funding research and innovation in Africa
ER  -