A former Rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) has urged the government to increase the funds for research in the country to encourage economic growth.

He argued that the figure must be increased to at least 1 percent of the country’s GDP.

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“We must increase the quantum of the research and the quality of research should not be research to get a degree as an end in itself, but as a development instrument.”

“Ideally, as a middle-income country, we should be putting at least 1 percent of our GDP into research and development then there must be a policy [to enable the research] to become relevant to our national development,” he added.

Prof Adei was speaking at a lecture in Kumasi organised by the Graduate Student Association of Ghana. This was part of the celebration of their annual Association celebration week.

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Meanwhile, an Associate Professor at the University of Ghana Medical School, Professor Alex Duodu, said researchers must conduct findings that contribute to the country’s economy.

“The world is moving fast. We must really contribute to GDP growth and the time to start is now.”

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“Government must ask the radical question to change the way universities are funded [in such a way that] funding goes to areas of importance and not blanket research and book allowance because sometimes certain incentives tend to be counterproductive,” Prof Duodo added.

He argued that to get to this point there must be discussions between institutions of higher education, industry and other stakeholders to ensure such researches start immediately.