Four Nigerians get $250,000 grant to monetise food processing, energy innovations

The Science Granting Councils Initiative (SGCI) has awarded a $250,000 grant to four research teams from Nigeria.

This was disclosed at the project inauguration and initial boot camp of SGCI funding in Abuja.

The grant was given to the shortlisted teams after the implementation of the Research for Impact Initiative (R41) under the auspices of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).

SGCI is a multi-funder initiative aimed at strengthening the capacities of 17 science granting councils (SGCs) in sub-Saharan Africa.

Saliba Girei Bakare, the director of research and development, TETFund said the grant will help the team turn their research innovations into “commercializable goods”.

He also said the grant will not only give technical development to the team but also economic benefits.

“The essence is to help them transform their research findings into commercializable goods and services in this country,” he said.

“Four teams are going to use this money to develop their research into prototypes and pitch them with industries so that there will be take-off of the product coming out from the research.”

Among these initiatives of the team are advancements in garri processing and pioneering efforts in renewable energy, among others.

The SGCI was launched in March 2015 initially as a partnership of the UK’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), and South Africa’s National Research Foundation (NRF).

Its first phase strengthened the abilities of Councils from 15 countries to manage research, design, and monitor research programmes.

It was based on the use of robust science, technology, and innovation (STI) indicators to support knowledge transfer to the private sector and strengthen partnerships between SGCs and other science system actors.

This first partnership (SGCI-1), lasting for five years, ended in September 2020.

It overlapped with a second five-year phase (SGCI-2) which began in June 2018 through additional investments by the Swedish Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), IDRC, and NRF.