Heritors Labs Limited, a product development house, software engineering enclave, research centre, and innovation services hub—through its Heritors Institute—has organised a two-day practical capacity building workshop in grant writing for women entrepreneurs, researchers and innovators in Accra.
The workshop sought to empower participants with the requisite skills and techniques in drafting application for grants, and was held it partnership with its strategic partners including the RISA Fund, the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology (MEST), and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
With close to 30 participants attending in person and over 200 joining online, the training provided a structured and strategic approach to grant writing Participants were taken through the basics of grant writing, how to identify and understand funding opportunities, with practical sessions on grant writing and tasked to submit dummy grant proposals for evaluation and review by facilitators.
Chief Executive Officer of Heritors Labs Limited, Mr. Derrydean Dadzie, remarked: “The reality is, in Ghana, less than 10% of research projects secure long-term funding, and even fewer make it from academia into industry. The problem is not a lack of innovation—we have brilliant minds, groundbreaking ideas, and immense potential. The challenge is access: access to funding, to the right networks, and to the knowledge that makes research investment-ready.
He further indicated, “This Grant Writing Workshop isn’t just about learning how to write proposals. It’s about understanding the funding landscape, knowing how to position research in a way that attracts investors, and ensuring that great work doesn’t just sit on a shelf but makes a real impact in the world.”
“I know from experience that securing funding isn’t just about filling out applications. It is about strategy, storytelling, and demonstrating why research matters. At Heritors Labs, we recognise that if we are serious about innovation, we must be serious about empowering more women to lead this charge. The future belongs to those who can bridge the gap between knowledge and action, and we need more women at the forefront of that movement”, Mr Dadzie intimated.
On his part, the director of science and technology at the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology (MEST), Mr. Nashiru Salifu, said: “We [MEST] commend Heritors Labs—through its Skills School project—for this training workshop to equip women researchers and innovators and young entrepreneurs with the requisite skills and requirements for securing grants to advance their works.”
According to him, grants remain a major source of funding for research works in Ghana, in the absence of a dedicated funding vehicle from the state, adding that it was therefore critical for researchers, innovators and young entrepreneurs to learn and build capacity in grant writing,” he indicated.
Mr. Salifu reiterated that research and development is critical to innovation and technological progress in every country, stressing government’s commitment to the research ecosystem with the enactment of the National Research Fund, which is yet to be operationalised.
Heritors Labs is an awardee of the RISA Fund, a multi-country project funded by the UK through the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to support research and lead domestic efforts towards the commercialisation and industry uptake of research and innovation outcomes.
Country Technical Lead for the RISA Fund, Gameli Adzaho, in his brief remarks, underscored the primary focus of the fund to strengthen Africa’s research and innovation ecosystem through tailored interventions and actions such as capacity building.
He added: “This workshop is very important because it helps to bridge the skills gap facing women researchers and innovators when it comes to accessing funding for their works and inventions. At RISA, we believe that the skills, knowledge and opportunities that are extended to African countries can help to drive transformative change.”
General Manager of Heritors Labs Ltd, Emmanuel Prince Amartey, shared that advancing research commercialisation requires a value chain approach, and funding plays a key role in each of the stages, hence the need to empower participants to secure grants for their research works.
“Heritors Labs understand that there’s a huge gender gap in the research and innovation sector, especially for women and differently-abled persons that’s why we established this framework to assemble and train women in grant writing as well as expose them to various funding sources,” he noted.
Mr. Amartey added: “Through our Heritors Institute, we hope to bridge the gap in the research and innovation ecosystem through capacity building in the broader interest of commercialisation research outcomes in Ghana.”
