Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, former Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, has accused successive Ghanaian governments of neglecting the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC). He stated that these crucial research institutions are forced to generate their own revenue to maintain operations.
This neglect stems from a profound misunderstanding of science's role in national development, according to Prof. Frimpong-Boateng. Institutions meant to solve socio-economic challenges are instead struggling for survival due to inadequate state funding. This situation forces them to commercialise activities simply to keep their doors open.
Ghana's economic narrative often highlights the need for diversification and value addition. However, the abandonment of these scientific pillars undermines such aspirations. Countries that successfully transformed their economies did so through consistent investments in research, innovation, and industrial development. Ghana's failure to sustain support for these institutions represents a significant missed opportunity for indigenous technological breakthroughs.
Prof. Frimpong-Boateng made these remarks during a lecture honouring the late President John Evans Atta Mills. He emphasised that successful nations fund their research institutions generously and hold them accountable for outcomes, not for revenue. He lamented that Ghana asks its scientists to be entrepreneurs first and researchers second.
Ministry of Finance data supports Prof. Frimpong-Boateng’s concerns regarding budget trends. Over the past six years, government subvention to CSIR and GAEC has largely covered only Compensation of Employees. Funding for Goods and Services and Capital Expenditure, essential for research, equipment, and fieldwork, has remained minimal. These funds are often under-released, severely impacting operational capacity.
Directors of CSIR institutes have previously raised similar alarms. In 2025, the CSIR Soil Research Institute reported receiving “zero funding of our research” from the government. All field and laboratory work now depend on donor support, highlighting a critical funding gap.
At GAEC, approved budgets between 2020 and 2022 show a clear disparity. While GHS 4.3 million to GHS 9.1 million was allocated for salaries, Goods and Services received only GHS 3 million to GHS 5 million. Capital projects received GHS 1 million to GHS 4 million. Releases were frequently below these approved figures, with the Goods and Services allocation revised down by 30% in 2022. This pattern forces both CSIR and GAEC to rely heavily on Internally Generated Funds, donor projects, and commercial activities.
The former minister also noted that Ghana’s development challenges partly trace back to abandoning long-term national strategies. Politically branded programmes often end with changes in government, preventing sustained progress. Early post-independence industrialisation efforts aimed to build scientific and manufacturing capacity through collaboration among CSIR, GAEC, and universities. Many of these initiatives were discontinued prematurely.
Had successive governments built upon these policies, Ghana could have followed a development path similar to South Korea and Malaysia. These countries were at comparable levels of development in the 1960s but have since emerged as industrialised economies. Ghana's current approach risks fueling brain drain and weakening its innovation ecosystem, limiting sustainable economic transformation.