Over 500 organisations in South Africa and across the continent have responded to a global call to submit proposals for innovations aimed at addressing major health and social issues. If successful, the proponents will get access to risk capital to develop their innovation product.
The initiative is part of a three-year agreement between the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the Global Innovation Fund (GIF) to support innovations that can deal with major health and social issues.
The UK-based GIF invests in innovations that aim to improve the lives and opportunities of millions of people living on less than US$5 per day in the developing world. It provides grants or risk capital investment to innovators and social entrepreneurs in order to accelerate the development, rigorous testing and up-scaling of evidence-based and market-tested innovations.
The agreement was signed in July during the EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF) in Manchester. This partnership will support innovations that are being piloted and may also support innovations that are being expanded to reach new markets.
Under the Memorandum of Understanding(MoU), the two partners will co-invest in GIF-selected innovations that are in line with key strategic priorities for the country. The Department will make available grants of up to R15 million for the duration of the MoU.
A first-of-its-kind initiative for the DST, this partnership presents the DST with an opportunity to tap into new forms of international funding.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Mr Imraan Patel, the DST's Deputy Director-General: Socio-economic Innovation Partnerships, said South Africa was looking forward to implementing this partnership to support global efforts to secure sustainable development.
ʺThis partnership fits in snugly with the work that the Department is already engaged in around scaling and testing local innovations that lead to an improved quality of life for poor South Africans,ʺ said Mr Patel. ʺI am certain that there is a lot we will learn from the GIF, and it, too, will learn from South Africa."
GIF's Chief Executive, Dr Alix Zwane, welcomed the new partnership, saying it represented an important step for the GIF as it focused more on innovations with the potential to impact the lives of millions of the world's poorest people.
ʺWorking with the DST, we will find, pilot, test and scale promising new African-led or African-focused approaches to dealing with major health and social issues on the continent,ʺ said Dr Zwane.
Speaking directly to South African innovators, she said, ʺI hope that this new sub-fund will challenge South African entrepreneurs to think about new solutions to benefit the poorest people in society."
To date,over 500 applications related to greater Africa have been submitted to the GIF. About 359 have been submitted by organisations headquartered in Africa, and just under 30 from organisations headquartered and implementing in South Africa.
The next step involves a review of all the applications by an independent panel of experts, a process that will assist the DST to advance its mandate to support local innovations that have a demonstrable socio-economic impact.
