A six-member delegation from the National Science, Technology and Innovation Council, Sierra Leone (NSTIC-SL) that is in Ghana on a Peer-To Peer learning visit, visited the Sierra Leone High Commission at its Cantonment Location.
Team lead of the delegation, Professor Jonas Redwood-Sawyerr, in his statement during the visit, said the team’s visit forms part of activities under the Service Granting Councils Initiative that is aimed at strengthening the capacities of funding agencies in the management of research grants for development.
He said that with the Sierra Leone Council being relatively young, they believe that sharing ideas and learning from others will expand their work and help in the blend of different councils and their operation.
As a way of learning from more matured councils NSTIC-SL according to Prof. Redwood -Sawyerr, has visited Uganda and Tanzania, but with a need to have a taste of both the west and eastern part of the region when it comes to research management and more, they decided to visit Ghana to learn from them.
Since they arrived in Ghana, he said they have visited different places and that the team from Sierra Leone and that of Ghana have both been learning from each other.
Engaging each team at different points, the Professor said, many things have been learnt and shared that relate to research.
In order to take it to the next level after the visit, the ideas gathered, he noted, will be drafted in a Memorandum of Understanding stating each other’s obligations and roles, with a report to be presented to the Minister of Higher and Technical Education in Sierra Leone.
Being Sierra Leoneans, the team cannot be in Ghana without visiting the High Commission, the Professor added, while thanking the Mission for hosting them.
Speaking on the part of the Ghana Science, Technology and Innovation Council, Cephas Adjei Mensah, the Director, Research, Statistics and Information Management, said they are happy hosting their Sierra Leonean colleagues and have been pleased to take them through their experience of growth in their council.
He said that with such a collaboration, they are pleading with governments to prioritize research, which they consider important when funded, because it will help in the management of research grants for development.
Head of Chancery (H.O.C.) Joseph Spencer Thornton welcomed the team on behalf of the High Commissioner, the mission, which he described as Sierra Leone.
He wished them well in their mission to Ghana and hoped that the collaboration would be of great benefit to both nations.
The Head of Chancery thanked them for their visit and urged them to visit the mission anytime they were in Ghana.
