Funding Research and Innovation

Supporting the ability of Science Granting Councils to fund research and innovation

The Science Granting Councils Initiative (SGCI) is working with 17 African Science Granting Councils (SGCs) to enhance their capacity to fund research and innovation projects.

A core function of SGCs is to fund national research and innovation priorities. By strengthening SGCs’ ability to fund and manage projects aligned with their national development plans, SGCI helps to ensure research addresses pressing national challenges.

SGCI’s work in the area of research and innovation focuses on building the capacity of SGCs to strategically fund initiatives in priority areas of national research, including industrialisation and manufacturing, sustainable economies and societies, and emerging technologies. This bolsters SGCs’ role in leading research and innovation that can drives economic growth and technological advancement across Africa.

We partner with SGCs to:

Expand research funding from the national government and other development partners. National Councils participation in SGCI has boosted their respective governments confidence in capacity to manage research grants, leading to increased research funding.

• Guide research funding decisions by adopting Research and Innovation Frameworks (RIFs). For instance, SGCs in 11 African countries now use RIFs to select proposals and maximise research impact through stakeholder engagement. One example is Ghana’s framework, which promotes knowledge production, supports start-ups, enhances public–private partnerships, and integrates gender equality.
• Strengthen the design and management of research competitions within SGCs. Several SGCs now run competitive funding calls, apply clear review guidelines, host proposal-development workshops, and convene expert review panels.
• Improve how SGCs disseminate research outputs. SGCs have increased the sharing of research outputs. They now publish more reports, journal articles, and policy briefs to engage stakeholders and increase the impact of their research.
• Increase collaboration through researcher symposia. SGCI symposia for funded researchers foster knowledge exchange, strengthen networks, and encourage collaboration across SGCs.

Through collaboration with SGCs, we are enhancing the effectiveness of investments in research and innovation, to support long-term sustainable development across Africa.