ESO Collaborative launches an online platform to provide businesses in Ghana with easy access to support programs to grow their businesses.

[Accra- Ghana] – The Ghana Research and Industry Collaborative (GRIC) has soft-launched its innovative online platform to help bridge research and industry for collaborative innovation and impact in Ghana. The soft-launch of the platform, https://gricghana.org/ at the 2023 GRIC Annual Forum held in Accra under the theme “Connecting Research and Industry for Innovation and Collaboration” will serve as a pivotal hub for knowledge sharing and engagement among academia, industry professionals, government entities, and international partners, catalyze innovative solutions, and fortify Ghana’s research and innovation ecosystem.

GRIC was formed in 2023 as a national collaborative to bridge the gap between researchers and industry stakeholders to drive collaboration and innovation. It has since rallied participation from universities, research institutions, firms, government, and international partners to contribute to Ghana’s development by enhancing collaboration in various fields. The GRIC online digital platform allows users to share their research needs, access profiles of research and industry partners as well as published research papers that touch on varying themes such as product development, innovation, corporate governance, climate change, food science, and economics.

The Chair of the GRIC Steering Committee, Professor Ernest Asamoah added that “While the capacity for research exists, there is the need at the point of industry that requires both parties to interact. The essence of the GRIC platform is to bring together industry and academia in order to drive innovation and collaboration”.

Amma Lartey, CEO of Impact Investing Ghana (IIGh) which hosts the Secretariat of GRIC, said research is essential to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in informing their financial decisions. She added “digital technology has the ability to accelerate the process of understanding and designing research useful to businesses. Access to breakthrough technology will also contribute positively towards the growth and development of businesses.” It is the expectation of IIGh that the GRIC digital online platform will further streamline research-industry collaboration.

Johnson Masagotin Singir, Science & Innovation Officer at the British High Commission in Ghana said the UK believes in research and industry collaboration and has formed UK-Ghana partnerships that are leveraging research and industry collaboration for impact. The British High Commission together with the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI) in Ghana have developed and launched a UK-Ghana Science, Technology and Innovation (ST&I) strategy to increase the number, quality and impact of UK-Ghana partnerships and has so far identified 360 individual UK-Ghana ST&I partnerships.

Julius Lamptey, Senior Research and Policy Officer at IIGh and Programme Officer for the GRIC Secretariat, highlighted that “the deliberate effort to make research accessible to industry stakeholders with positive outcomes and drive collaborative projects is at the core of GRIC’s activities. Every effort is being made to engage these stakeholders.”


GRIC has three sub-committees set up to focus on collaboration, capacity-building, and fundraising and will work in the coming years to drive research and innovation with a focus on achieving real-world impact.







About Impact Investing Ghana
Impact Investing Ghana (IIGh) is the Ghana National Advisory Board for Impact Investing. We are an independent private-sector-led initiative promoting sustainable development and advancing the development of the impact investment ecosystem in Ghana. IIGh is Ghana’s representative to the Global Steering Group (GSG) for Impact Investing and a member of the Africa Impact Investing Group. IIGh is supporting the growth of impact ventures and catalyzing $ 1 billion in impact funds for investment in Ghana and the West African sub-region. Find more here www.impactinvestinggh.org


About the Ghana Research and Industry Collaborative
GRIC is set up as a national collaborative aimed at bridging the gap between researchers and industry stakeholders to drive collaboration and innovation. It comprises universities, research institutions, firms, government entities and international partners with an 11-member Steering Committee and three sub-committees focused on collaboration, capacity-building and fundraising. The GRIC Secretariat is currently hosted by Impact Investing Ghana (IIGh) and aspires to become self-sustaining and independently hosted by key stakeholders.

As a collaboration catalyst, GRIC focuses on identifying industry research needs, mobilising research outputs and supporting research development, facilitating stakeholder collaboration, organising learning workshops, hosting policy and dialogue sessions and advocating for resources to bolster research and innovation. GRIC’s continued commitment to bridge the research-industry gap stands to unlock untapped potential in Ghana’s research and innovation ecosystem to foster national development.