In a bold step to sustain scientific research in Ghana, President of the Republic, H.E. John Dramani Mahama, has announced that the Government of Ghana, through the Ministry of Finance, has committed to fully cover a $156 million budget shortfall following the withdrawal of funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
President Mahama made this announcement during the opening ceremony of the 2025 Africa Centres of Excellence (ACE) Forum, being hosted in Accra to mark the 10th anniversary of the ACE initiative. The three-day event is themed ‘ACE@10 – Celebrating a Decade of Impact, Innovation and Excellence’.
He described the sustainability of research institutions as a “shared responsibility” and urged higher education institutions to strengthen partnerships with industry and scale up their own resource mobilisation efforts. “We must move beyond donor dependency and invest in our research institutions as a matter of national priority,” he added.
The ACE@10 Forum is being jointly organised by the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission, the Association of African Universities (AAU), the Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA), with support from the World Bank and the French Development Agency (AFD). It has brought together African Ministers of Education and Finance, Vice-Chancellors, Chief Directors and representatives from international development agencies.
Delivering the keynote address on ‘The Vision for Higher Education for Africa and the Journey So Far – 10 Years of ACE’, Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Nana Aba Appiah Amfo, lauded the ACE initiative as a successful model that is helping to transform the African higher education landscape. She highlighted several achievements including expansion of postgraduate education in critical areas, increased female participation in research, improved teaching and learning environments, and enhanced industry and community engagement.
Prof. Amfo also used the opportunity to showcase the significant contributions of the three ACEs hosted by the University of Ghana, WACCI (West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement), WACCBIP (West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens), and WAGMC (West African Genetic Medicine Centre) to regional development, especially in areas of food security, health and genetics.
In a strong call to action, the Vice-Chancellor urged African leaders to draw lessons from shifts in international aid and take steps to ensure the financial sustainability of research and training centres across the continent.
The opening day of the forum also featured plenary discussions focused on developing a strategic roadmap for the future of the ACE programme. University of Ghana scholar and Director of WACCI, Prof. Eric Danquah, presented the Centre’s financial sustainability model, which prioritises long-term funding partnerships and innovative income-generation strategies.
The ACE@10 celebration continues over the next two days, with stakeholder meetings, exhibitions and networking sessions aimed at enhancing collaboration and sustaining the programme’s momentum.
