Kigali, 28 June 2022: Minister of Education Dr Valentine Uwamariya who is PASET Governing Council Chair attended and delivered the Official Opening Statement at the Pan-African Hybrid Conference of the PASET Regional Scholarship and Innovation Fund (RSIF) taking place from 28-29 June 2022 in #Morocco.

While opening the conference Minister of Education outlined that there has been tremendous progress made towards reaching PASET vision over the last four years.
“As you might have heard, 258 students have been awarded PhD Scholarships. Early this year, 5 PhD students graduated from the first cohort of 15 students who are expected to complete their program this year. A number of these are Rwandese nationals and we are proud to be part of this program.

“We are working to strengthen the capacity of 15 PhD programs in competitively selected African host universities to generate knowledge in the PASET priority areas.  Importantly, the RSIF sponsored graduates are expected to have a significant impact on building capacity within the African Host Universities, opened the Development Partners Round Table in which she revealed outstanding progress made towards the vision of PASET over the last 4 years.” She added.
Other achievements include the signing of partnership agreements with 22 leading international institutions who provide high quality research facilities and mentorship opportunities for our students. These are selected based on research focus that must have an African focus. There was also the provision of provided over 35 research and innovation grants that aim to enhance the quality of research: greater exploitation of knowledge outputs for commercialisation, including through enhancing the policy and incentives within African universities for innovation and strengthening university-industry linkages.

Established in 2017, the Regional Scholarship and Innovation Fund (RSIF) is the flagship programme of the Partnership for skills in Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology (PASET), an initiative founded by African governments in 2013, to strengthen capacity and knowledge for socio-economic transformation in Africa.   The goal of RSIF is to bolster doctoral training, as well as research and innovation excellence within ASET fields, in Africa. RSIF is unique in that it is the first pan-African science fund focused on doctoral training, research and innovation that is owned and managed by African governments and designed to respond to African challenges. RSIF has two financing components: (i) a General Fund, which supports PhD training, research, and innovation projects annually and (ii) a Permanent Fund, whose proceeds will be channelled into the General Fund to ensure sustainability of RSIF. 

Currently, the governments of Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Rwanda, and Senegal are investing in RSIF, in addition to the World Bank, the Government of Korea and the European Union, and several private sector partners. Several other countries are at various stages of joining the initiative. RSIF funds activities in five thematic areas identified by PASET as priority for Africa’s socio-economic transformation: Mines, Minerals and Materials Science; Energy; Food Security; Climate Change; and Information and Communication Technology (ICT). In 2018, the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (www.icipe.org) was competitively selected as the Regional Coordination Unit (RCU) of RSIF, mandated to manage grants, doctoral scholarships, capacity building, and the General and Endowment Funds. ICIPE’s role as the RCU of RSIF is governed by the PASET Executive Board.