From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Universities and several other research Institutes in Nigeria and beyond have been accused of not maximizing several window of opportunities to access available funds from several international donor agencies for quality research and development.
This was disclosed at a meeting organized by the African Population and Health Research Centre (APHRC) for Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities under the umbrella of Committee of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (CVCNU) and several other officials of the universities and research institutions, in Abuja, on Tuesday.
Dr. Sindi Kirimi, Programme Manager, Catalyze Impact Initiative, APHRC, in a presentation titled “Catalyzing African Research: Strategies for Excellence, Outputs, and Visibility, highlighted that barely 10 per cent of funds allocated to African institutions for research gets to the institutions due to challenges.
He said: “A total of 30,160 Bill and Melinda Gate Foundation (BMGF) grants were awarded between March 1994 and October 2021. Of these, 2,996 grants went to Africa-based
institutions, representing 9.9 per cent of all grants.
“This was because African universities and research institutions are not visible and accessible to the world. Many of them don’t have good and functional website that people can easily interact with, and many of them also lack the knowledge of the capacities of the institutions and the researchers themselves.
“These funds being budgeted annually are there waiting to be accessed by the institutions. But for that to happen, a programme officer or funder may want to know or understand the capacity of the individuals or institutions to manage the fund that might be allocated to them for whatever reason.
“Secondly, most of the publishing by African scientists are done by local journal which are often not visible and accessible to international audience. We are now engaging journal editors in Africa to create a common platform for all African journals and editors. The platform will provide the details of all the editors and researchers, making them more visible and accessible to the world.
“We have also developed a platform known as Research Readiness Assessment, which has become a tool for the institutions to provide information on what/who they are in terms of human resource, infrastructures, and other capacities. In addition to that, universities are expected to create a brand for themselves. They should be known and identified with something for easy partnerships.”
Dr. Alphonsus Neba, Program Director, APHRC, in his remarks, noted that almost all African commitments to funding research remain unmet after several decades, while global funding opportunities for research are expanding, offering unprecedented possibilities for African institutions.
“But seizing these opportunities require robust research ecosystems underpinned by
sound financial management and governance, excellent research environments and exemplary research and institutional leadership, visibility and discoverability of not only African researchers, but also, of African universities and research institutions, their capabilities and research productivity,” he said.
He said that APHRC is committed to supporting Nigerian universities in building these capacities, ensuring that they are well-positioned to compete for and effectively manage large-scale research grants.
“Embracing the GFGP standard is a crucial step to achieving our goal of globally competitive Nigerian universities. The GFGP, an African-developed standard for effective grant management has the backing of major international funders.
“We anticipate a future where securing substantial grants from global donors will be
increasingly challenging without this certification, regardless of the quality of research proposals or expertise.
“Embracing innovation and sound financial management, can overcome the challenges that have hindered our progress and create a new era of research excellence. Universities that generate ground-breaking solutions to Nigeria’s most pressing problems, and whose impact is felt in the lives of ordinary citizens, will become the shining lights on the hill.”
Meanwhile, the Secretary General of CVCNU, Prof. Yakubu Echefu, in his remarks, stated that the APHRC-organized meeting marked a pivotal step in enhancing the research and development ecosystem within Nigerian universities.
Prof. Ochefu who was represented by Dr Michael Tsebee said: “It’s an opportunity engage in an intensive and collaborative workshop aimed at advancing our understanding and implementation of good financial grant practices.”
He assured the readiness of the CVCNU to champion the cause of good financial grant practices that would, expectedly, herald improved opportunities and chances of accessing huge financial grants for research.