Africa should have a research fund to accelerate development- Effah

Accra, Nov. 24, GNA - Mr Paul Effah, Executive Secretary of the National Council on Tertiary Education, has stressed the need for a research fund to resource universities and research institutes in Africa to accelerate the development aspirations of the continent.

He said special efforts should also be made to hunt for young research talents and enhance professional skills at the post-graduate level. Mr Effah was speaking at the Annual Meeting of the West African Research and Innovation Management Association (WARIMA), a professional body for research management staff in West Africa.

WARIMA aims among other things to increase awareness about research and innovation issues among the general public and academic institutions and advocate appropriate national and institutional policy in support of research and innovation and participation in the development and testing of policy.

Mr Effah said while it was necessary to attract and retain young academics by addressing the issue of ageing faculty in African Universities, efforts should also be made to tap into the experience and expertise of senior and retired academics.

He said the core mission of any university was research aimed at discovering new knowledge, interpretation and application, which is transmitted to society through teaching and extension. A World bank Report in 2008 indicates that there were only 48 researchers per a million population in sub-saharan Africa compared to 168 in North Africa, 459 in China and 4,103 in USA.

Mr Effah said the issue partly arose because there was general lack of strong academic leadership in various departments and faculties and inadequate outlets for the publication of research findings. Besides, the general absence of structured and systematic leadership and management training programmes has also not helped the situation. Professor Kwesi Yankah, Pro Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana said the academic facility would build a unit dedicated to research, innovation and development to help elevate the research profile and professional handling of the management of research. The unit would also mobilise funding locally and at the international level and link university research to industry.

He said conference on the theme: "Enhancing Research Productivity in African Universities," was timely and should help identify major setbacks in research output on the continent and make recommendation on the way forward.