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Africa should promote its own innovations - First Lady

By GNA
Science Africa should promote its own innovations - First Lady
JUL 18, 2017 LISTEN

Accra, July 18, GNA - First Lady Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo has said Africa needs to promote its homegrown innovations that have been proven to solve real and difficult human challenges that affect them even though they might not be flashy.

'Unless we shine a spotlight on them and create enabling ecosystems, our innovators will continue to languish in the shadows,' she said.

'We must tell our story and support those who through their innovation and creativity drive economic growth.'

Speaking at a 'Women Innovator and Entrepreneur' workshop, in Accra on Monday, Mrs Akufo-Addo expressed concern that often, people tended to link creativity and innovation with only developed countries, ignoring the fact that a lot of world class innovations were being produced in Africa.

'Often when we talk about creativity and innovation we look at the more developed regions, but it is important to note that there are a lot of world class innovations being produced in Africa.'

She, however, said since the future health of any economy rested on its ability to innovate and that the key to growth and progress had always been innovation, there was the need to encourage more innovators on the continent.

The Women Innovator workshop was organized on the sideline of the two-day Innovation Prize for Africa (IPA) 2017 Award programme, being hosted in Ghana by Africa Innovation Foundation (AIF) in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, (MESTI), and the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC).

This year's IPA awards for the first time, has four women among the top 10 shortlisted nominees, for their creativity and innovations.

Mrs Akufo-Addo, therefore, used the opportunity to congratulate the women nominees, saying, there was the need to encourage the passions, talents and dreams of girls and women.

The nominees are Perris Bosire from Kenya, Nokwethu Khojane from South Africa, Philippa Makobore from Uganda and Omolabake Adenle from Nigeria.

'You are proof that there is truly no limit for the determined African woman,' the First Lady noted. 'You are a proof that ingenuity and creativity is not limited to any gender and it is up to society to create every opportunity for women to flourish, and celebrate them, when they do well.'

She said the AIF, being hosted in the country would in no doubt help unleash the innovation and creativity of the Ghanaian, especially the women.

'Indeed this has come to Ghana at an historic time. This year, marks 60 years of independence and 60 years of being an example in innovating towards self-sufficiency, as a nation,' Mrs Akufo-Addo said.

The country, she said, remained committed to putting innovation at the core of the national agenda, not only to meet Ghanaian and African challenges, but also to provide home-grown innovations that would become competitive globally.

She said Ghana had put in place plans to establish ICT Incubator Hubs in the regional capitals as part of its innovative drives to promote growth and development.

She emphasised that creativity and innovation promoted steady improvements in any society, and could also be lifesaving for the most vulnerable populations, by driving productivity and ensuring rising incomes.

The First Lady, therefore, urged all Africans to be innovation enablers by offering mentorship and coaching tools to up and coming innovators, and making it easier to trade between African countries and not just leave it to institutions like the AIF.

She said the move called for encouraging competitiveness that allowed the unleashing of creative solutions to society's challenges that were relevant not only to localised situations but applicable internationally.

Ms Patricia Appiagyei, Deputy Minister of MESTI, said African women especially, had their challenges but in spite of those, they still had been playing critical roles in driving innovations.

She, however, called for policy frameworks that would deliberately help build women's 'self-esteem and increase their access to technical and scientific innovative tools that would enable them to become creative innovators and entrepreneurs.

Ms Edith Uyovbukerhi, Chief Executive Officer of GN Foods, explained that the women innovative workshop was being held to throw more light on the need to ensure that the voices of African women in innovation and enterprise were truly heard; as well as to shine the light on the great work women were doing.

She described the workshop as an 'Elite gathering of women entrepreneurs' in Africa who had come together to talk about their challenges, inspire, and redefine themselves as innovators.

AIF initiated the IPA five years ago to support African innovators by unlocking their potential and catalysing the African innovation spirit, promoting home-grown solutions for Africa's prosperity.

IPA is a leading platform on the African innovation landscape; it has a network of over 6000 African innovators spanning 50 countries; 45 of the continent's top innovators and over 35 innovation enablers.

The top 10 nominees contending for the sixth IPA are innovators from nine African countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Kenya, Liberia, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

GNA

By Lydia Asamoah, GNA

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