Nairobi: Researchers have raised concerns over the current financial struggles facing most local universities, warning that they pose a threat to research and innovation. Many institutions, they noted, are struggling to secure adequate funding, making it difficult to support and sustain innovative projects through to completion. They added that only a few universities are in a position to effectively fund researchers and innovators, locking out the many opportunities that lie unearthed and which can contribute positively to the country's economic development.
According to Kenya News Agency, led by the Executive Director of the African Population and Health Research Centre (APHRC), Dr Catherine Kyobutungi, they said the financial constraints have forced most universities to focus only on their core business of education. They called for urgent partnerships between the institutions, the government, and the private sector to save the future of innovations.
Kyobutungi decried the low investment towards research and innovation by most African governments at an average of 0.45% of their GDP, with Kenya investing about 0.6 per cent, saying this has left the institutions of higher learning stretched. "If African governments don't inject more funding into research and innovation, then we fear economic growth in the continent. They need to direct more to this field, as most universities are cash-crunched," said Dr. Kyobutungi.
She added that financial constraints have caused frustrations among innovators whose projects have never scaled past the prototype stage with funding not forthcoming. "Research is a cost; it must be itemised on priority funding and will become effective in solving the many problems that bedevil African countries. Without research, we will not have development; we must always be innovative," she said.
The official, at the same time, challenged the universities to tap into research and innovation to be able to maintain relevance and potentially diversify revenue streams. This, she said, they can thus use to commercialise discoveries and intellectual property and become more financially sustainable.
On her part, Zetech Deputy Vice Chancellor (DVC), Professor Alice Njuguna, said the institution has an innovation hub that not only provides mentorship but also links innovative students with the international market. She said this is besides the funding that they offer to students who come up with enterprising innovations. "We have been working with not only students but locals who have passion for innovation. We have also been linking them with markets in different industries, with some students going to Nigeria, Ghana and the UK," she said.