The African Research and Innovation Hub (ARIH) that was recently launched by African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is seeking to unlock up to $70bn annually in economic gains for Africa by boosting innovation-driven sustainable growth.
ARIH is expected to catalyse technological sovereignty, intra-African trade, sustainable growth and structural transformation of African economies by fostering scientific research, innovation and commercialisation of homegrown technologies.
This is aimed at accelerating intra-African trade and structural transformation by exploiting the organic linkages among academia, industry and policymakers with scalable innovations.
According to the bank, the hub is structured to address the low investment in research and development (R&D) in Africa and the continent’s underperformance in research output.
It will tackle this by fostering innovation commercialisation and building partnerships among academia, industry and policymakers in order to double Africa’s R&D expenditure to unlock economic benefits.
Speaking during the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF2025), Group Chief Economist and Managing Director for Research at Afreximbank, Dr. Yemi Kale said the establishment of the African Research and Innovation Hub marks a pivotal moment for Africa’s scientific and technological ecosystem.
“It signals Afreximbank’s commitment to harnessing Africa’s homegrown talent and transforming Africa’s intellectual capital into industrial competitiveness, trade expansion and sustainable development,” he said.
Kale pointed out that Africa currently contributes less than three per cent of global research output, despite the urgent challenges confronting it, saying that “accelerating Africa’s innovation ecosystem to support economic growth, trade diversification and technological sovereignty is, therefore, an objective we are happy to commit to.”
He added that: “Our vision is for ARIH to be a transformational platform that seeks to convert intellectual capital into industrial competitiveness and trade-led growth, recognising that a doubling of Africa’s R&D expenditure by one per cent of GDP could unlock up to $70bn annually.
“We also see ARIH positioning itself as a vital conduit connecting academia, industry, policymakers and investors to accelerate Africa’s path to inclusive and sustainable growth.”