The Gambia has taken a historic step toward building a sustainable research and innovation ecosystem with the official launch of the National Research & Innovation Fund (NRIF) at the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara International Conference Centre.
The Fund, established under the NRIF Act 2025, unveiled a GMD 100 million ($2.5 million) Endowment Fund to finance research, scholarships, and innovation programmes across priority sectors including agriculture, health, renewable energy, technology, and youth development.
Minister of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology, Professor Pierre Gomez, declared the Fund fully operational, launching ten funding windows alongside the inaugural call for proposals. Under the theme “Awakening the Giants,” he described the initiative as a milestone in aligning research and innovation with national development priorities.
“The diagnoses exist in our research institutions. The prototypes exist in our innovation hubs. What has been absent is the apparatus to move a finding from a journal article to a farmer’s field, or an idea from a workbench to a market. That is the gap NRIF exists to close,” Professor Gomez said.
Executive Director of NRIF, Professor Momodou Sallah, revealed that the funding windows were designed following extensive consultations with 108 institutions and 14 stakeholder sessions nationwide. He noted that many valuable research projects and academic theses remain unused despite their potential to transform The Gambia’s development trajectory.
The ten funding windows include: Government Systems and Evidence; Research Infrastructure; Innovation Lifecycle; Student Research; TVET and Skills Innovation; Monitoring and Evaluation; Local Government Development; Partnerships; and Diaspora Collaboration.
Saidina Babucarr Ceesay, NRIF Director of Programmes, confirmed that comprehensive operational and grants manuals have been validated by experts to ensure transparent application and review processes.
The launch brought together policymakers, researchers, innovators, and development partners, all united in their commitment to harnessing research and innovation for national progress. The Endowment Fund aims to provide long‑term financing, reducing dependence on annual government budgets and ensuring support for future generations of Gambian innovators.
