The new Director of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Institute of Industrial Research, Dr William Owusu Odro, has expressed concern about the private sector’s preference for imported technologies despite the availability of locally developed alternatives.

Speaking in an interview on JoyNews AM Show on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, Dr Odro said Ghana had the capacity to develop technologies that meet the needs of local industries, but many businesses continued to depend on foreign countries, particularly China, for their equipment and technology.

“Unfortunately, we have a private sector that thinks that all the solutions are in China, so they are quick to go and import the technologies from China,” he said.

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He explained that technologies imported into Ghana often require modifications to suit local conditions, while solutions developed by Ghanaian researchers are already designed to work within the country’s environment.

“Regardless of the fact that when the technology gets into Ghana, there is a need to adapt it to the Ghanaian environment. But what we offer is a solution that is already adaptable to the Ghanaian environment,” he stated.

Dr Odro also raised concerns about the trade imbalance between Ghana and China, revealing that Ghana continued to import far more goods from China than it exported to the Asian country.

“You look at the data from January 2026 to August 2026, and it shows overwhelmingly that the trade balance is tilted towards China, about 21.8 billion of imports from China,” he disclosed.

He further indicated that Ghana exported about US$1.3 billion worth of goods during the same period, highlighting the wide gap between imports and exports.

Dr Odro also explained that scientific research required significant financial support, adding that government funding, particularly the payment of salaries, was not enough to support the institute’s research activities.

“So currently we are anticipating that CSIR will need an amount of about 20 million USD as a startup endowment fund that would help us to be more sustainable,” he said.

He explained that the proposed fund would be invested to generate income to support research activities and reduce the institute’s dependence on government funding.

“We are saying that it's an endowment fund because we can then invest and use the proceeds to finance our scientific activities,” he added.

Dr Odro stressed the need for Ghana to move beyond importing foreign technologies and focus on developing its own solutions to support local industries and compete in international markets.

ANAS/MA

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