President John Dramani Mahama has underscored the need for Ghana to fundamentally rethink its development model, insisting that the country’s long-term prosperity will depend more on innovation, ideas, and knowledge-driven growth than on its natural resource endowment.
Speaking at the official launch of the Ghana National Research Fund on Tuesday, June 16, President Mahama said Ghana must elevate research to the centre of national development planning and treat it as a key driver of economic transformation rather than a peripheral activity.
He noted that the establishment of the fund marks an important step toward strengthening the country’s research ecosystem and ensuring that scientific inquiry, innovation, and knowledge production directly contribute to national development outcomes.
“Today, Ghana affirms that research can no longer be treated as a peripheral activity. It must become one of the engines that drive our economic growth, our social progress, and our national competitiveness,” he said.
According to him, modern global competition is no longer defined primarily by access to natural resources, geography, or capital alone, but by how effectively countries are able to generate, apply, and scale ideas.
He stressed that in the 21st century, economic success is increasingly determined by the ability of nations to invest in research, technology, and human capital, and to translate knowledge into productive economic activity.
“The most successful economies in the world today are not necessarily those that are endowed with the greatest natural wealth. They are the economies that have consistently invested in research, technology innovation, and human capital development,” he added.
The launch of the Ghana National Research Fund is expected to provide financial support for researchers, academic institutions, and innovation-driven projects aimed at addressing Ghana’s developmental challenges across sectors, including agriculture, health, energy, and industry.
