Africa-Europe Science and Innovation Summit

Research funding has been identified in several instances as one of the key challenges that researchers in Africa have to overcome. Internal funding both from governments and corporates across Africa has remained conspicuously low and thus Universities and researchers across the continent need to look externally to source for such funding and other career development opportunities. This is despite the obvious linkage between research and economic development and also the prominence of knowledge as a key economic driver in the global economy.

The good news is, and in line with SDG 17, there are thousands of available funding opportunities relevant to Africa from grant-makers across the globe; both non-government and government players. During my presentation, I will share with you a digital platform we have developed that allows researchers and research managers based in Africa to easily identify funding calls from global funders relevant to their areas of research, saving them valuable time and frustrations that come with wild goose chase of funding calls when one really needs them.

I will also share our experience so far and a cross-sectional view of the research funding landscape in Africa, what we have learnt from the experiences and a glimpse of where we plan to go in support of knowledge generation in the continent of Africa