Establish a research development fund - Researcher urges government

Senior Lecturer at the Department of Communication studies of the University of Ghana, Dr Abena Animwaa Yeboah-Banin, has called for the establishment of a research development fund in the country.

According to her, the fund, when established would help support researchers financially when embarking on projects.

Speaking to journalists and stakeholders at a capacity-building workshop in Accra on Thursday, Dr Yeboah-Banin noted that the major challenge of researchers is access to funding.

She said most investors do not have the patience to wait for a while before reaping the interest of their investment as they want to get profits on their monies in the shortest possible time.

"The challenges we've identified have to do with money. Monies that the institutions perhaps do not have to really activate more researchers and research sharing. Money that is not patient to wait for the long journey, etc...that's why the researchers suggested that perhaps, we are at that point where we should initiate a research development fund as a country that allows different stakeholders within this value chain to get money to do their bit of the contribution but it will be money that is patient and can afford to walk the journey with them," she told the media in an interview.

"It is not money that is thinking I must sell this and get profit tomorrow but because it would have been set up solely for this purpose, it can let the Professor of Biochemistry do the many iterations it takes before you are convinced that this medicine can really solve the problem," Dr Abena Animwaa Yeboah-Banin added.

Meanwhile, researchers want the local economy to be driven by research.

This, Dr Abena Yeboah-Banin said will boost the growth of the local economy.

The capacity building workshop was organized by Heritors Labs in collaboration with MESTI and STEPRI and funded by The RISA Fund.

ESA/FNOQ