Prof. Nathaniel Boso of the KNUST School of Business of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, has been named one of the Chairs in ten (10) African Universities to host the O.R. Tambo Africa Research Chairs Initiative (ORTARChI). This announcement was made by the National Research Foundation of South Africa on 12th October 2020. Details of the announcement is available at https://www.nrf.ac.za/media-room/news/ortarchi-meet-team-aiming-contribute-transforming-african-research-landscape. The key objectives O.R. Tambo Africa Research Chairs Initiative (ORTARChI) are to:
- contribute to expanded research and innovation capacities in and for Africa, in alignment with AU Agenda 2063 and STISA 2024;
- attract and retain excellent researchers and scientists within Africa’s higher education system;
- contribute to Africa’s global research competitiveness while responding to the continent’s socio-economic needs;
- contribute to Africa’s career pathways for young and mid-career researchers, with a strong research, innovation and human capacity development output trajectory; and
- honour and promote the legacy of O.R. Tambo, emulating his values of professional excellence, integrity, inclusiveness, honesty, humility and respect for human dignity.
The award of the Chair to KNUST will enable the School of Business to, for the next five years, conduct relevant research and support high-end skills development under thematic areas in the Humanities and Social Sciences, focusing attention on technology, entrepreneurship and youth employability with the aim of leading a continent-wide conversation on how to use transformative research and educational engagement initiatives to harness the potential of African youth to create new jobs and drive the conversations on youth employability in Africa.
In addition to collaborating with the public and private sectors in Ghana, the Research Chair for the KNUST will also partner some African institutions such as the University of South Africa and the University of Pretoria in South Africa, and the Alex Ekwueme Federal University in Nigeria, and Strathmore University in Kenya.
ORTARChI is an initiative of South Africa’s National Research Foundation (NRF) and the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) in partnership with the Oliver and Adelaide Tambo Foundation (OATF); Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and seven councils of the Science Granting Councils Initiative in Sub-Saharan Africa (SGCI).
The KNUST Chair comes with an award of USD 215 000 per annum for a period of five (5) years with a potential for extension for another five (5) years.