The Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings, has called for increased investment in the commercialisation of locally developed technologies to reduce Ghana’s dependence on foreign innovations, create jobs and accelerate industrial development.
She said Ghana needed to move beyond consuming imported technologies to developing its own innovations and transforming scientific research and raw materials into high-value products capable of competing in domestic and international markets.
Dr Agyeman-Rawlings, who represented President John Dramani Mahama at the maiden Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Innovation Fair 2026 in Accra, said science, technology and innovation were essential to achieving the country’s economic transformation agenda.
The fair, held at the Efua Sutherland Children’s Park, was organised on the theme: “From research to market: The role of CSIR in driving innovation for national development”.
She urged the CSIR to strengthen collaboration with financial institutions, private investors and the 24-hour economy authority to transform research findings into commercially viable products and businesses.
Dr Agyeman-Rawlings also highlighted the importance of research in agriculture, biotechnology and renewable energy, particularly in supporting the government’s 24-hour economy and export development programmes.
She cited the development of wheat varieties suitable for cultivation in Ghana as an example of how scientific research could boost domestic production and reduce reliance on imports.
The minister stressed that stronger links among researchers, industry and investors would help bridge the gap between scientific discoveries and their practical application in addressing the country’s development challenges.
In a keynote address, the Dean of the School of Engineering Sciences at the University of Ghana, Professor Elsie Effah Kaufmann, said research should be regarded as the beginning, rather than the end, of the innovation process.
She explained that the true value of scientific research lay in its ability to produce scalable technologies, products and services that improved people’s lives and contributed to economic growth.
Professor Kaufmann said moving innovations from discovery to the market required collaboration among scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, investors and policymakers.
She also called for engineering education to place greater emphasis on practical skills, urging institutions to equip students to develop affordable and sustainable solutions to societal problems.
The Director-General of the CSIR, Professor Paul Bosu, said the fair formed part of the Council’s week-long celebrations and provided a platform to demonstrate how scientific knowledge could solve practical problems, create economic opportunities and improve livelihoods.
He said the Council’s 13 research institutes were developing solutions in agriculture, health, food processing, industrialisation and environmental sustainability.
The Chairman of the CSIR Governing Council, Mr Mark Anthony Taylor, also called for stronger partnerships between researchers and the private sector to ensure that scientific discoveries were translated into market-ready products.
He said the Council needed to strengthen its commercial orientation, embrace artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies, and deepen partnerships with industry to improve its competitiveness.
BY ENOCH NTIAMOAH SIAW
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