The British High Commissioner to Ghana has underscored the transformative potential of UK-Ghana partnerships in science, technology, and education.

Speaking at the launch of Imperial Global Ghana, held on November 13, 2024, at her residence, Harriet Thompson highlighted the hub's role as a platform for advancing research, innovation, and knowledge-sharing between the two nations.

“This hub is a commitment to the future,” she declared. “It’s about empowering the next generation of scientists, engineers, and leaders who will shape the world of tomorrow. Together, we are building bridges to address shared global challenges and creating entrepreneurs who can compete on the world stage.”

The initiative is a key component of the UK-Ghana Science, Technology, and Innovation (ST&I) strategy, which emphasizes collaboration in fields such as medical diagnostics, artificial intelligence, climate science, and sustainable development. Partnerships already exist between leading Ghanaian institutions—including the University of Ghana, KNUST, and the University of Cape Coast—and their UK counterparts, but the hub aims to deepen these ties and catalyze new opportunities.

The hub builds on Imperial’s established partnerships in the region, including in medical diagnostics, vaccine research, AI and data science, climate science, sustainable cities and entrepreneurship training.

At the event, Imperial’s President Professor Hugh Brady said: “Imperial’s new Ghana Hub builds on a strong foundation of collaboration between Imperial and the University of Ghana in medical diagnostics, vaccine research, future cities and entrepreneurship training. It will further strengthen and scale up our research and innovation partnerships in West Africa.

“The focus on AI, enabled by generous funding from the Eric and Wendy Schmidt AI for Science Programme, is especially exciting and will see Imperial collaborate with the University of Ghana and African Institute of Mathematical Sciences to develop new tools and applications to drive key economic growth sectors, better healthcare outcomes and more efficient and responsive public services.”

Ophelia Mensah-Hayford, Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation said: “The choice of Ghana as one of Imperial’s new global hubs for research and innovation is a testament to our renewed partnership with the British Government for Science, Technology, and Innovation.

“With its enviable position in global university rankings and entrepreneurship, there is no doubt this collaboration will make Ghana one of the best technology and innovation clusters in the Sub Region.”