Training and Technical Support Needs of Councils

[Cynthia Nwobodo]

The Science granitng councils (SGCs) play crucial role in the management of national research and innovation funding. On behalf of the state, the SGCs administer funding aimed at enhancing research and innovations to ensure that socio-economic development of nations is driven by the ingenuity of its citizens. In West Africa however, the respective country SGCs are not yet at par with their counterparts in other sub-regions of Africa such as the East and Southern Africa. It is based on this premise, that the Science Granting Coucils Initiative (SGCI) has prioritized the West African Sub-region towards the enhancement of its national research and innovation funding agencies. Under the project titled: Strenthening the National Research and Innovation Funding Agencies in West Africa (SRIFA), the the African Technology Policy Studies Network (ATPS), and its partner- the African University of Science and Technology (AUST) are working together to enhance the capabilities of science granting councils in six West African Countries of Burkina FAso, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sierra Leone. To achieve this, the project will work to improve the Councils where they exist (Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, and Senegal) and to foster the establshiement of new Councils where they do not exist (Ghana, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone).

To effectively achieve this aim, the project team is embarking on needs assessment to understant the training and technical support needs of the respective Councils. This will help to ensure that the trainings and technical support to be provided by the project are specific the respective country needs. With this the suports to be provided for each country will be tailor-made thereby addressing the priority needs of each country. The idea to to avoid a one-size-fit all blanket approach to training and technical support.

In this discussion, we would want to understand what the Councils think are the training and technical support that could enhance research and and innovation funding in their respective countries.

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