National Commission for Science and Technology (NCST) has launched the Science and Technology (S&T) fund which aims at achieving science and technology led development.
The launch follows government’s first ever injection of money to the fund. In the 2021-2022 budget, K291 million has been set aside to operationalize the fund.
The fund supports the realization of the Malawi 2063 national vision and the MW2063 First Ten-Year Implementation Plan (MIP-1) which are anchored on science and technology in the transformation of Malawi into an inclusively wealthy, self-reliant, industrialized upper middle country.
The fund was launched under the theme: Financing research, science, technology and innovation towards Malawi 2063.
Minister of Education Agnes Nyalonje who was the guest of honor at the launch on Wednesday said the fund will make a significant difference to the fortunes of Malawi and Malawi’s journey to 2063, when Malawi is expected to have achieved the status of upper middle income Country.
She added that the establishment of the Science and Technology Fund represents a long-awaited start to the strategic financing of Malawi’s own science and technology research and innovation for development which will lead to new businesses, highly skilled and well-paying jobs, and will contribute to the success of Malawi 2063.
“By 2063, we should have industrialized, we should have urbanized and we should have improved agricultural productivity and we should have started commercializing products of agriculture. Now for all these that I have mentioned to happen, there has to be science and technology and innovation through research,” said Nyalonje.
She also noted that the Malawi Government is serious about research and wants the fund to grow, because the more it grows the more it can provide resources for researchers and innovators.
“A lot of inventions that happen in so many countries, even the vaccines that we are receiving for covid-19, the research takes place in laboratories that are populated by researchers.
“So with this fund what government is saying is that we are going to have the capacity to finance research of our own and that is very crucial because what will mean is that, that money will be focusing on addressing problems that we as a country face. Our own problems with our own solutions through research,” said Nyalonje.
In his remarks, NCST Board Chairperson Prof. Emmanuel Kaunda said a lot of people had ideas, talent and innovations but there were no resources to facilitate proper research hence the need to establish a fund focusing on science and technology research.
“That fund has never been there and since the act was formulated this is more than 20 years and this is the first time to have this, so there is a huge gap in terms of financing our research and technology, and coming up with the fund will have a great impact on science and technology here in Malawi”, said Kaunda.
