Mahama allocates GH¢100million to national research fund
President John Dramani Mahama has allocated GH¢100 million to support the operations of the National Research Fund in 2026, reaffirming the government's commitment to strengthening research, innovation and human capital development to drive national progress.
The President announced the allocation at the official launch of the National Research Fund in Accra on Tuesday, describing the investment as a major step toward establishing a sustainable and credible national research financing framework.
He directed the Ministry of Education, working in collaboration with the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund), to ensure the transparent, accountable and results-driven utilisation of the funds.
According to President Mahama, the allocation will support competitive national research grants, doctoral and postdoctoral research programmes, digital grant management systems, strategic innovation initiatives and priority research projects aligned with Ghana's development agenda.
He assured stakeholders that the government would fully implement the provisions of the National Research Fund Act, 2020 (Act 1056), particularly those relating to the mobilisation and timely release of funds for research activities.
“I request the Ministries of Finance, Education, Environment, Science and Technology to progressively operationalize the statutory financing framework established under the Fund Act to develop with scale, continuity, and predictability necessary for long term national impact,” he said.
President Mahama noted that the African Centres of Excellence Programme had demonstrated the benefits of structured, competitive and performance based investment in research.
He cited institutions such as the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement, the West Africa Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens and the West African Genetic Medicine Centre as examples of how sustained investment can produce world class research outcomes.
“These institutions have strengthened scientific capacity, developed highly skilled researchers, and produced globally recognized discoveries and enhanced Ghana’s reputation as a centre of research excellence,” he stated.
The President said the Fund should become a catalyst for finding practical solutions to national challenges, particularly in the areas of food security, climate resilience, healthcare and governance.
“Let us develop climate-smart technologies for African agriculture, let us lead research into tropical diseases, and let us harness artificial intelligence to improve governance and public service delivery,” he urged.
He further encouraged universities and research institutions to focus on innovations that can be commercialised, exported and scaled internationally.
“Our objective is not simply to publish more papers but to solve more problems,” President Mahama said.
The President also called on the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission to take advantage of the Fund to expand applied research, accelerate innovation and transform scientific discoveries into practical solutions for national development.
In addition, he tasked the Ministers of Finance and Education to begin the process of securing Ghana's participation in the World Bank's ACE Innovate initiative.
According to him, participation in the programme should be integrated with the National Research Fund to improve national coordination, align investments with strategic priorities and strengthen accountability for results.
Mr. Haruna Iddrisu, Minister of Education, described the Fund as a critical instrument for boosting productivity and supporting Ghana's industrialisation agenda.
He called on academia to play a leading role in developing solutions to the country's development challenges and to support the implementation of the government's 24-hour economy policy.
Mr. Iddrisu expressed confidence that the Fund would help address longstanding challenges in research financing and contribute to greater stability within tertiary education institutions.