Sh31.8 billion regional project to benefit Tanzanian Bio science innovators

Kigali. Tanzanian innovators are set to benefit from the second phase of the newly launched five year project dubbed BioInnovateAfrica, worth Sh31.8 billion ($14.2million); which runs across Eastern Africa.

This was revealed on Thursday in Kigali, Rwanda where Eastern African researchers, policymakers and innovators gathered for a regional symposium on bio-economy, organized by the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE).

ICIPE Director General Dr Segenet Kelemu told regional scientists gathering for the two-day symposium in Kigali that the project would help turn agricultural and biological processing into an enterprise that would later benefit smallholder farmers in East Africa. 

She said, “We[now]look forward to interacting with you[the scientists] to identify areas where synergies can be built along the various value-chains supported through BioInnovate Africa Programme phase 2.”

Speaking on the sidelines of the symposium, a Tanzanian scientist from the Nelson Mandela- Africa Institution of Science and Technology (AIST), Professor Karoli Njau, said that the new funding would trickle down to Tanzania through commercialization of research activities and innovation going on in the country.

“This will ensure that all innovations are disseminated and that innovators have a good business model. The funding should now enable us to move from research to production,’’ said Prof Njau.

After the symposium, winners of a grant fund totalling US$ 6 million, managed by BioInnovate Africa programme, are expected to be announced.

The grant is intended to enable scientists, researchers, innovators and entrepreneurs in eastern Africa to work together to turn innovative ideas and technologies based on biological sciences into viable businesses.

  “A bioeconomy brings together the commercial activity surrounding the use of renewable biological resources – such as crops, forests, animals and micro-organisms (like bacteria) – to solve challenges related to food, health, environmental protection, energy and industrial processes,” said Dr Julius Ecuru, Programme Manager, BioInnovate Africa.

The funding was provided by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the organization that has previously helped East African countries harness the benefits of bio-sciences research and innovation.

The previous support went to Tanzania, Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda.