He said that COVID-19 highlighted Africa’s inability to produce its own vaccines and drugs, forcing reliance on external support from other countries.

“We were waiting for others to send us leftovers of drugs. We cannot wait for that to happen again; we need to be proactive and change the narrative,” he said in Accra at the closing ceremony of a forum to mark the 10th anniversary of the African Higher Education Centres of Excellence (ACE).

Launched in 2014, ACE is a collaboration among African governments to drive global development.

The forum, attended by 500 participants from across Africa, included higher education and finance ministers, academics, and development partners.

It was co-organised by the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission, the Association of African Universities, and the Inter-University Council for East Africa, with support from the World Bank and French Development Agency.

Prof. Awandare pointed out the continent’s shortage of biotech companies and called for immediate action to address the gaps.

“African governments need to be deliberate in enacting policies that will direct funding in biotech that will bring in investment in those areas,” he said.

Prof. Awandare shared that research at the University of Ghana had identified potential drug candidates, vaccine targets for infectious diseases, and biomarkers for cancers and non-communicable diseases.

“We have identified targets that can be taken further to be used to develop vaccines for various infectious diseases.

“We have found biomarkers that can be used to track cancers and other non-communicable diseases, but all these need companies that can uptake the research to the next level of product development,” added.

Prof. Awandare said the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement at the University of Ghana has trained 120 PhDs in plant breeding and was working to improve African crops for local environments.

The Kofi Annan Enterprise Hub for agricultural innovation has also developed high-yielding and pest-resistant crop varieties, including tomatoes, rice, cassava, groundnuts, cowpeas, and maize, he noted.

Dr. Kojo Appiah, Co-Founder and Chairman of African Network Incorporation, emphasized the role of research and innovation in tackling climate change, food security, and health crises such as epidemics and pandemics. He underscored the need for innovations to boost entrepreneurship and job creation for socio-economic development.

The forum ended with calls for national and regional policies and collaboration among universities to drive institutional transformation.