Impact Investing Ghana (IIGH) has received funding from the Research and Innovation Systems in Africa (RISA) Fund to build sustainable systems for research and innovation financing.
The project will increase local funding for enterprises, increase access to funding and skills of Enterprise Support Organisations (ESOs) and increase collaboration between researchers and industry.
It will also address gaps holding back a thriving ecosystem for innovation. These include inadequate local funding for the launch and scale of innovation ventures; low capacity of businesses especially in working with long-term capital providers; inconsistent or uneven quality gaps in the Enterprise Support sector; and low capacity of researchers in disseminating research in forms that industry can easily use.
The project has three work streams: a) increasing investments and local funders for enterprises, increasing angel investing and scaling technology-driven deal sourcing in Ghana; b) improving the enabling environment for enterprise growth while increasing funding, skills and knowledge of ESOs; and c) increasing collaboration between research and industry through the Ghana Impact Investing Research Industry Collaborative.
Commenting on the development, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of IIGH, Amma Lartey, said the financing and innovation ecosystem has been collaborating over the last year in piloting these programmes, and that the funding from RISA “will enable us to grow them and make them more sustainable”.
For her, “National and regional collaboration to fill gaps that are holding back the growth of businesses is vital for economic recovery, and we want to see the growth of SMEs and funders who see impact as the new, normal way of doing business in Ghana”.
The project will be implemented by Impact Investing Ghana in collaboration with other stakeholders; including research institutions, universities, government ministries and ESO-collaborative members including Social Enterprise Ghana, Innohub, MBC Africa, Reach for Change, Mirepa Capital, Centre for Entrepreneurship & Evaluation Development, Scale Up Africa, Ghana Hubs Network, Ghana Enterprises Agency, National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme, Ashesi University and others, setting the project on a path of sustainability.
Research and Innovation Systems for Africa is a programme funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) that aims to strengthen the research and innovation ecosystems in Africa.
