Forging Ghana’s Future: The 2025 Regional Innovation Synergies (RIS) Conference

The 2025 Regional Innovation Synergies (RIS) Conference served as a landmark two-day event dedicated to fortifying Ghana’s innovation ecosystem under the guiding theme: “Aligning Partnerships for Innovation: Building Synergies in Agrifood, Climate Action, and Rural Technology Transfer for Job Creation”. The conference successfully convened a diverse audience of researchers, policymakers, rural and marginalized innovators, regulators, industry leaders, and young agripreneurs, fulfilling its role as a unified platform to combat the fragmentation often seen across sectors and institutions.

The first day of the conference was dedicated to high-level strategic alignment and policy frameworks. It commenced with an Official Opening Ceremony and Plenary Session, which provided a strategic reflection on the contributions of major initiatives shaping Ghana’s innovation and entrepreneurship landscape, including the UG Nkabom Collaborative, the Africa Climate Collaborative, and the RISA–BRIInG Project. This segment emphasized the importance of coordinated partnerships and cross-sector collaboration to build inclusive and climate-resilient innovation systems, concluding with a collective commitment to strengthening ecosystem linkages and policy coherence. Following the main plenary, breakout sessions delved into crucial thematic areas. The Agrifood Systems track focused on strengthening institutional synergies and regulatory pathways for job creation, while the Climate Innovation track explored building climate-resilient enterprises through mentorship and green growth. The Rural Innovation and Technology Transfer track, particularly driven by RISA–BRIInG, focused on leveraging grassroots innovation insights to influence national policy frameworks, drawing on the project's experience in translating university-based research into commercially viable solutions for rural enterprises.

The second day shifted focus towards enterprise growth, investment readiness, and scaling innovation. It began with a mini plenary session that provided insights from South Africa on driving agrifood innovation through entrepreneurship and university–industry ecosystems, followed by an Investors’ Roundtable addressing financing opportunities for agrifood and climate startups. The afternoon featured key breakout sessions designed to showcase and scale up innovation. The Agrifood Systems track hosted the WAYANE Pitch Competition, empowering youth agrifood entrepreneurs. The Climate Innovation track continued its focus on building climate-resilient enterprises. Crucially, the Rural Innovation and Technology Transfer track engaged in a focused discussion on "Driving Commercialisation: Regulatory Pathways, Market Linkages and Cross-Country Insights". The RISA–BRIInG segment, specifically "Scaling Rural Innovation: Policy, Research and Enterprise," served as a critical platform to showcase the BRIInG model and culminated in the co-creation of a Policy Communiqué with key stakeholders, resulting in actionable recommendations to strengthen rural innovation. The conference successfully concluded with an Official Closing Ceremony and Awards session, marking the end of a productive convening that sets the stage for enhanced national and regional innovation partnerships.

 The Exhibition area served as a dynamic centerpiece of the conference. This space provided a showcase of innovation across all three tracks, bringing to life the research, enterprise development, and community impact discussed in the sessions. Attendees experienced first-hand the progress of the RISA–BRIInG Project, with rural entrepreneurs displaying products enhanced by university research in food safety and process optimization. Climate innovators presented sustainable solutions, while young agripreneurs demonstrated the viability of new agrifood technologies.

By convening complementary initiatives under one umbrella, the conference delivered on its promise to strengthen Ghana’s collective contributions to innovation, research, and entrepreneurship.