Accra, Ghana//-The World Bank Global Director for Education, Dr Jaime Saavedra has urged African researchers and scientists to translate their research into development to address the myriad of challenges facing the continent.
According to him, African researchers, and scientists as well as research and higher learning institutions including the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI) and the West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP), both at the University of Ghana could turn things around through meaningful and impactful research.
Dr Saavedra made the call when he paid a visit to the management of WACCI and WACCBIP as part of his two-day working visit to Accra recently.
The two institutions-WACCI and WACCBIP are the beneficiaries of the World Bank’s funded first Africa Higher Education Centers of Excellence for Development Impact (ACE Impact I).
Dr Saavedra who led the World Bank delegation to the two institutions was to learn about how the ACE Impact Centers had utilized the funding to improve the quality and relevance of their course offerings and research.
The visit also afforded Ghanaian and regional students the opportunity to interact with Dr Saavedra and the other executives of the Bank and provided them with insights on their academic experiences and postgraduate plans.
Speaking at the WACCI, Dr Saavedra urged the Ghanaian government and higher learning institutions to use tertiary and technical education to give opportunities to the young ones especially the poor and vulnerable in the society.
This he noted is the surest way that the country could lift several of its youth out of poverty.
Interacting with the management and students of WACCBIP, Dr Saavedra who is a renowned economist challenged the students to come out with affordable solutions to help solve the problems of the region and the African continent.
Dr Saavedra was delighted that the two ACE centres are combining development of human capital and research for the growth of Ghana and the rest of the West African region.
“We are very happy with the results that we are seeing from the two centres of excellence so far”, he told journalists at his closing media briefing at the World Bank Ghana Office.
Sharing of the successes of the centres, Professor Eric Yirenkyi Danquah, Founding Director of West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI) at the University of Ghana, said if WACCI was not supported by the World Bank when AGRA exited in 2015, the progress of the centre would have been suffered.
WACCI, according to him, is a World Bank Africa Centre of Excellence (ACE) set up in 2007 through a partnership between the University of Ghana Cornell University with funding from the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).
The aim of this partnership, he explained, was to train plant breeders at the PhD level for five countries in the West African sub-region.
Following the successful implementation of the project’s first phase, the centre expanded its focus to other countries in Africa.
In 2015, WACCI introduced an innovative MPhil programme in Seed Science and Technology to address the challenges facing the seed sector in Africa.
Prof Danquah disclosed that the centre currently enrolled 160 PhD and 80 MPhil students from 19 African countries. It also graduated 105 PhDs and 30 MPhils.
These graduates are now game-changers and history makers in 15 countries in Africa, adding that the centre over the years has transitioned from single donor to a multi-donor funded institution with over $40 million of committed funds.
He was quick to add that WACCI is training the next generation of plant breeders and seed technologists needed for the transformation of agriculture in Africa through high quality research, teaching, learning, and knowledge dissemination.
Dr Danquah told the World Bank delegation that the WACCI is seeking to set up a $50 million endowment fund to train scientists, entrepreneurs, among others to stimulate the growth in the agricultural sector and significantly contribute toward the transformation of food systems for socio-economic development.
The end goal according to him is to enhance food and nutrition security in Ghana and other African countries.
The WACCI boss added the centre in the next 10 years would train 150 PhD plant breeders, 200 seed scientists, and empower 600 entrepreneurs to turn their ideas to viable businesses.
On their part, Dr Lydia Mosi, Deputy Director of Administration; and Dr Peter Quashie, Deputy of Research, both the West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP) took turns to update the World Bank team on the activities of the centre.
