The second edition of the Africa Research and Innovation Commercialisation Summit (ARICS) will be held in Accra on March 13-14, 2025. The two-day summit will focus on the theme: “From Labs to Market: Scaling Industry Uptake of Innovation and Research Outcomes.”
Organized by Heritors Labs Limited, a Research and Web 3.0 company, in collaboration with funding partner RISA Fund, the event aims to bring together leading researchers, innovators, top government officials, and the private business community. The summit will explore how to move research outcomes and innovations from labs to markets across Africa and beyond.
Mr. Derrydean Dadzie, CEO of Heritors Labs, explained that the ARICS summit aims to create actionable pathways to transform African research into solutions that will drive growth and improve living standards across the continent. He emphasized that the summit seeks to awaken the “sleeping giants” within Africa’s industries and highlight their role in the commercialization of research outcomes.
“The theme underscores the practical steps needed to commercialize African research outcomes and innovations,” Mr. Dadzie stated. “We have the power to turn research outcomes into agents of growth and prosperity. Industry’s involvement is essential in unlocking the potential within our research and innovation value chains.”
Professor Marian Quain, Deputy Director-General of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, affirmed that ARICS 2025 would provide a platform to showcase home-grown research products and innovations. She urged for greater stakeholder support and emphasized the importance of self-reliance in African innovation. “As Africans, we must take our destiny into our own hands, produce to feed ourselves, and export to grow our economy,” she said.
Mr. Wisdom Adongo, Senior Programme Officer at the Private Enterprise Federation, stressed the critical role of industry in facilitating the commercial uptake of research. He called on African governments to work closely with researchers and the private sector to implement homegrown solutions to Africa’s challenges, using the summit as a stepping stone to advance this agenda.
“Industry is key in research, and this summit will help change the narrative on private sector uptake of research outcomes,” Mr. Adongo noted. “Only with innovative, tradable commodities can we fully leverage the single continental market through productive research.”
Mr. Johnson Singir, Science and Innovation Network Manager for the FCDO in Ghana, highlighted the UK government’s commitment to supporting research and innovation to tackle Africa’s challenges. He emphasized that ARICS would provide a platform for collaboration and the exchange of ideas that can foster socio-economic growth across the continent.
ARICS 2025 is poised to be a transformative event for advancing African research, innovation, and industry collaboration, with the potential to drive economic and social progress across the continent.
