About the Training Manual

The African Technology Policy Studies Network (ATPS) Strengthening the National Research and Innovation Funding Agencies in West Africa (SRIFA) Training Manual is designed to equip Research and Innovation Funding Councils (“the Councils”) with the skills, strategies, and tools needed to enhance their effectiveness, sustainability, and impact. Recognizing the central role of research and innovation in driving socio-economic development, the manual responds to the pressing challenges these Councils face, including limited resources, technical capacity gaps, complex donor systems, and the need for sustainable funding ecosystems.

The manual is structured into five comprehensive modules:

1. Fundraising and Grantsmanship: Provides practical guidance on identifying funding opportunities, developing competitive proposals, forming strategic partnerships, diversifying funding streams, managing and disbursing grants, and integrating Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) mechanisms.
2. Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs): Equips participants with the knowledge to design, negotiate, and manage effective PPPs that leverage the strengths of the public sector, private enterprises, and civil society. The module emphasizes equitable collaboration, transparent governance, adaptive management, and MEL integration.
3. Commercialization of Research Results: Guides Councils through the commercialization process, including technology transfer, intellectual property (IP) management, licensing, market evaluation, and legal considerations. It outlines pathways such as licensing, spin-offs, joint ventures, franchising, and in-house production, tailored to West African realities.
4. Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) Strategies: Offers frameworks for mainstreaming GESI principles into Council operations and funding processes. It addresses unconscious bias, promotes inclusive leadership, and provides tools for gender-responsive funding calls, institutional reforms, and sustained equity outcomes.
5. Research Ethics and Integrity: Strengthens Councils’ capacity to uphold ethical standards in research funding and oversight. Topics include guiding ethical principles, ethics review processes, managing ethical risks, promoting integrity, and institutionalizing oversight mechanisms.

Each module combines technical knowledge with interactive methodologies, such as case studies, group exercises, simulations, and tool-based demonstrations, to ensure learning is context-specific and action-oriented. By the end of the program, participants will be able to mobilize resources more effectively, enhance inclusive and impactful partnerships, commercialize research outputs responsibly, integrate equity in operations, and uphold the highest ethical standards. The ATPS SRIFA Training Manual is both a reference and a capacity-building resource. It supports the long-term vision of creating resilient, innovative, and well-governed research funding systems in West Africa, capable of catalyzing transformative development outcomes across the region.