The federal government and the UNESCO have called for stronger collaboration among stakeholders to reposition science, technology and innovation as driver of economic growth.

They said this on Wednesday at the opening of a three-day workshop on Science, Technology and Innovation and the Renewed Hope Agenda held in Abuja.

The workshop was organised by the UNESCO in collaboration with the Sheda Science and Technology Complex.

The science and tech minister, Kingsley Udeh, said economies were being transformed by artificial intelligence, biotechnology, digital systems, space technologies and green innovations.

On the establishment of the National Research Innovation and Development Fund and recent approval by the Federal Executive Council, Mr Udeh said the Sankore project was central to its implementation.

Mr Udeh said the federal government was making deliberate efforts to promote research to industry collaboration, encourage demand-driven innovation, improve infrastructure and create clear pathways for commercialisation.

Dimitri Sanga, the director of UNESCO West Africa, said the project was targeted as part of initiatives to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals agenda of 2030 and the African Union 2063 Development Agenda.

The director-general of SHETSCO, Magaji Aliyu, said he was committed to advocating the passing of the National Research Innovation Council Bill, another legislation targeted at the development of the STI ecosystem.

Mukhtar Muhammad, the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology, said the national research and development spending stood at about 0.2 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product.

Mr Muhammad said it was below African Union’s one per cent benchmark which reflected constrained capacity to produce high quality research, retain talent and adapt to global technologies to local needs.

He said Nigeria had the capacity for quality research and could translate such into commercialised products.

The project, which began in March 2025 in Nigeria and Ghana, is supported by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and aimed at establishing National Research Fund operationalisation.

(NAN)