FNI focused on uplifting scientific research in Mozambique – Dirce Madeira

By Charles Mangwiro

MAPUTO Mozambique’s National Research Fund (FNI), is leaving no stone unturned as part of its strategic drive to promote and financially support scientific research, innovation and technology transfer in Mozambique, considered as the driving force to perform its functions, according to the institution’s Project manager, Dirce Madeira.

“We entered the Science Granting Councils SGCI as from its inception in 2014 until now that we are in the second fase…, ., and we are happy to say that our management of research is getting stronger every day since we have been learning a lot from other countries.”, said Dirce Madeira in an interview.

Exchanging experiences served as a space for the sharing and dissemination of scientific knowledge produced in different areas of knowledge and encouraging researchers and innovators to explore together, the mechanisms for mobilizing resources for research activities, transfer of scientific technology and technological innovation, leading to the creation of solutions to the problems that promote the country’s socioeconomic development” Dirce Madeira added.

With regards to networking, the FNI has been able to work more with other countries. “We learnt several initiatives with other countries about how they manage research and we could also implement new procedures in FNI,and that strengthen our institutions’ internal capacity”.

According to the official, the training for sharing the results of research developed and financed by the FNI are part of the SGCI activities that are carried out annually, of which the
institution is proud for never having failed even in adverse times such as the global coronavirus pandemic, Corona Virus. 

The FNI was created in 2005, with the purpose of promoting Science, Technology and Innovation, through the financing of research, innovation and technology transfer, to public or private entities dedicated to, or interested in, the development of actions in the field of science and technology, thus contributing to the creation of solutions to existing problems, poverty reduction, improvement in the quality of life and socio-economic development of Mozambique.

“In order to fulfill its mission, in addition to the State Budget, the FNI has the support of partners, such as Sweden, Germany, South Africa, as well as the SGCI, among others, that have guaranteed the financing of projects and/or actions in the field of scientific research, innovation and technology transfer”, said Edson Faria, of the FNI in an interview.

He added: “Two new cross-cutting dimensions, namely research excellence and gender equality and inclusivity, have recently been added to the Initiative and we are very focused to deliver on them”.  “We are happy that the SGCI provides a window of opportunity for the Councils to focus on their role as boundary managers and how evidence can be utilized more effectively to support their activities.”

FNI has partnerships with Mozambique’s Eduardo Mondlane University, Namibia university,  Instituto Superior Politécnico de Gaza, ISPG and other state departments[A2] .

But Madeira pointed out that FNI does a lot with a few resources and she hopes that a better day will come with additional funding.

“We are a small institution and we would like to do more, however we are constrained by funding which means that we need more partners although we have been making good progress we still have a long way to go.

Since its inception in 2015, SGCI has been strengthening the capacities of science granting councils in 15 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The initiative’s activities include training, regional exchanges and forums, online training, on-site coaching, and collaborative research. More effective science granting councils are expected to strengthen national science, technology, and innovation systems and ultimately promote nationally led research that contributes to development in participating countries.

Madeira says despite what it has achieved so far, progress has been very slow due to inadequate resources.

“We want to do more, we are progressing well but slowly. But we need more resources to better perform above what is expected from an institution such as ours,” Madeira said.

And for Faria, information has an important role for the population to acquire knowledge about science and its benefits and also to know how much it is present in their daily lives.

“It should be noted that we attend cabinet meetings (Concelho de MInistros) to explain how our calls for project submission for funding are aimed at proposals for research projects that fall within the priority areas defined by the government of Mozambique, namely agriculture, energy, infrastructure
and tourism,” [A4] Faria said.

FNI is one of the Councils participating in this ISGCI Initiative. (x)[A5]