Grand Challenges (GC) was established in 2003 by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation at World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The goal is to fund ground-breaking scientific research on specific unique health challenges in a country using bold mind ideas and innovative solutions. The first decade of progress yielded diverse types of impact, and new challenges continue 5 National Research and Innovation Agenda (NRIA), June 2021.
To be launched. In 2007, the Gates Foundation launched Grand Challenges Explorations to engage more of the world’s innovators more quickly through $100K initial grants addressing a range of challenges. Evolution of the initial projects over the first ten years confirmed that great ideas come from everywhere. To-date Grand Challenges has made investments in various African countries of >15 million USD. In the period 2015-2020 an
additional $15.9M (more than fifteen million US dollars) has been invested to support research and development programs.
The renewed science innovation and entrepreneurship strategy has resulted in GC having a coordination center at the Science Foundation for Africa (SFA) in Nairobi to coordinate efforts and to identify country-based Grand Challenges as integral for developing innovations on the African continent. Apart from sustainability for the support to scale up of innovations, country-based support can focus on innovations addressing specific priority areas.
Establishment of Grand Challenges Rwanda
To deliver on Rwanda’s ambition to become a high-income economy, Rwanda National Council for Science and Technology, in collaboration with national stakeholders, plan to establish Grand Challenges Rwanda in partnership with global and African partners.
The purpose is for Rwanda to join a growing global network of innovation support and leverage the synergies from members of the Grand Challenges family. There will be collaborations mutual R&D funding and research implementation on ground breaking innovative research projects leading to products and services as unique solutions, and to develop innovations through research exchanges, best practices and experiences with global and African researchers.
Grand Challenges Rwanda prioritizes funding opportunity to high-level quality ideas by researchers and innovators with exciting ground breaking innovative research projects leading to products and services as unique solutions. The emphasis is that research is from evolving industry, companies, academic laboratories and using highly recognized labs, industries, innovation hubs and other relevant settings for practical research to develop research along technology readiness level leading to products and services and transfer knowledge and technology, as well as strengthen the ties between global and African collaborators.