African governments must strengthen ties between research institutions and industry to drive innovation commercialisation and expand intra-continental trade, according to Derrydean Dadzie, CEO of Heritors Labs.
Speaking at the launch of the ARICS Cross Border Webinar Series on the theme “Moving Innovation Beyond Islands: Building Cross-Border Markets that Integrate Africa’s Research and Industrial Ecosystems”, Dadzie called for state research and innovation agencies to be empowered to develop intellectual property that can be transferred to businesses with the expertise, capacity, and financing to bring solutions to market.
He stressed that such opportunities should also remain accessible to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
“Fixing cross-border research and innovation collaborations can unlock enormous opportunities for intra-Africa trade, make discussions around commercialisation more fluid, and ultimately drive socio-economic transformation,” Dadzie said.
He lamented the persistent disconnect between research hubs, investors, and industry players, which he said leaves many viable African innovations stuck in laboratories.
Currently, around 90% of Africa’s SMEs operate without direct links to the research and innovation ecosystem, a gap that limits the commercialisation of technology and its contribution to economic growth.
Dr Thulani Dlamini, CEO of South Africa’s Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, supported the call, noting that connecting innovation hubs to industry would enable SMEs to leverage research infrastructure, improve market access, and scale operations.
However, he cautioned that challenges go beyond intellectual property rights, citing SMEs’ absorptive capacity, technology transfer mechanisms, and access to finance as critical hurdles.
“Funding is the major barrier,” Dlamini said. “With the necessary capital, SMEs can acquire and commercialise innovations from research institutions, creating jobs and generating economic returns from research outcomes.”
The webinar also echoed recommendations from the 2025 Africa Research and Innovation Commercialisation Summit in Accra, which urged policymakers to adopt systems and frameworks that promote cross-border commercialisation.
Ian Korongo of the Kenya National Innovation Agency emphasised that while many countries have policy frameworks, implementation has been slow. He called for sustained high-level collaboration to make innovation transfer a priority.
Dr George Acheampong, Coordinator of the Innovation and Incubation Hub at the University of Ghana Business School, added that co-creation laboratories could accelerate cross-border innovation by sharing resources and intellectual property equitably.
“Co-sharing facilities would greatly enhance our ability to commercialise African innovations and make them globally competitive,” he said.
