By Patricia Kapulula

Lilongwe, August 30, Mana: Minister of Education, Madalitso Kambauwa Wirima has emphasised on the need for Malawi to integrate and mainstream Research and Science, Technology and Innovation (R-STI) in its national policies and strategies through effective and efficient application of knowledge, tools, scientific research and technological innovation in addressing societal challenges.

The Minister made the remarks at the Bingu International Convention Centre (BICC) in Lilongwe on Wednesday when she launched the Grand Challenges Malawi initiative.

The initiative is meant to promote and enhance innovation and as well as collaborative research and development amongst scientists both locally and internationally.

Wirima said Malawi has potential to leverage transformative Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) in order to position itself as a global competitive knowledge based economy hence the need for technological innovation in addressing challenges.

“We expect that our researchers can come together in a stronger and powerful way to collaborate with fellows globally to come up with powerful ideas that can enable them to create and innovate in order to solve problems that the country faces,” she said.

She expressed concern that Malawi’s economy has been registering slow growth evidenced by Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rate of 3.5 percent from 2010 saying time has come for Malawi to widen opportunities for collaboration and investment, create innovation and commercialise innovative technologies.

“Malawian researchers and innovators need to make breakthroughs and develop new mindsets that will enable them find new solutions that will make the country less dependent on others,” she said.

National Commission for Science and Technology (NCST) Acting Director General, Gift Kadzamira said there has been demand in terms of financing research in the country that researchers and innovators fail to meet.

“Even the Commission is failing to finance them adequately due to inadequate financing. So, the coming in of Grand Challenges Malawi will mobilise resources both domestically and internationally.

She said despite inadequate resources, Malawi is doing fine in research because it has the technical and human capacity.

Science for Africa Foundation (SAF) based in Nairobi, Kenya coordinates national Grand Challenges in Africa to develop innovations on the continent.

SAF Head of Programmes, Dr Moses Alobo hailed Malawi for the launch of the initiative saying it (Malawi) is joining a group of science managers and innovation supporters.