By Stanley Iwuoha
The UK’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office’s Chief Scientific Adviser and Director for Research and Evidence, Professor Charlotte Watts has arrived Nigeria to see firsthand, UK supported projects that are helping to strengthen Nigeria’s science, tech, and innovation ecosystem.
During her visit, Professor Watts met with project stakeholders, innovators, and partners in Lagos and Abuja, to explore the transformative impact of these projects on economic growth, job creation, and societal challenges in Nigeria.
In Lagos, she visited the University of Lagos and Hinckley Recycling, beneficiaries of the UK-Africa Technology and Innovation Partnerships (ATIP) programme, funded by the Research and Evidence Directorate.
Hinckley Recycling is a UK e-waste recycling facility that developed second-life solutions for lithium-ion batteries. While on site, Professor Watts reiterated the UK’s commitment to delivering on net zero in the UK and to work with Nigeria through companies such as the Hickley Recycling to save the environment while empowering livelihoods with clean energy to power their businesses.
She also met with Creative ecosystem stakeholders cutting across music, film and movies, content creation to discuss an ongoing study on Nigeria’s creatives landscape commissioned with Evidence Fund by the West Africa Research and Innovation Hub (WARIH).
In Abuja, she met with Nigeria’s Minister of Science, Technology & Innovation, Uche Nnaji to hear about the Nigeria Government’s plans to develop a domestically funded Science Granting Council and met with Dr Abdu Mukhtar, the National Coordinator of the Presidential Initiative for Unlocking the Healthcare Value chain (PVAC).
Professor Watts’ visit highlights the UK’s commitment to strengthening partnerships in innovation, research, and development to deliver shared prosperity and tackle global issues and underscores the importance of the UK’s collaboration with Nigeria to promote innovation and research as drivers of sustainable development and economic growth.
In his remarks, the Nigerian Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Chief Uche Nnaji commended UK for its commitment to Nigerian development and promised expressed readiness to strengthen the bilateral tie between the two countries.
