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Insight into research and innovation in Kenia and Tanzania

In November 2024, State Secretary Martina Hirayama led a scientific delegation to Kenya and Tanzania. The trip provided an opportunity to reinforce research and innovation cooperation with these two countries.

06.12.2024
Authors: Dércio Afonso da Silva, Simone Keller
Group photo on a grey square in front of a white building.
Group photo after the visit to the Ifakara Health Institute (IHI) in Bagamoyo, Tanzania. Photo: IHI

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What unites Switzerland and Kenya in education, research and innovation? For many years, researchers from both countries have been working together in various disciplines. In the past five years (2018–2023), nearly 50 projects involving researchers from Switzerland and Kenya received funding from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). Cooperation initiatives are also backed by the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH), which, in partnership with the University of Basel, serves as the Leading House for the region of sub-Saharan Africa. This mandate was given to the Swiss TPH by the Swiss government in 2017 and is expected to continue until at least 2028.

Memorandum of Understanding signed with Kenya

Ties between the two countries have been consolidated even further since November 2024: the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER) and the Kenyan Ministry of Education signed a Memorandum of Understanding, which is intended to improve and expand existing cooperation in education, research and innovation (ERI). This MoU was signed by Martina Hirayama, State Secretary for Education, Research and Innovation, in Nairobi during her trip to Kenya and Tanzania in November. 

A man and a woman are standing at a conference table, folders in hand, between two flags.
Signature of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Kenyan Ministry of Education to strengthen cooperation in research, technology and innovation. Photo: SERI
A group of people poses for a photo behind a long conference table.
Working meeting at the Kenya National Innovation Agency (KeNIA). Photo: KeNIA
Two men and a woman are sitting at a conference table and listening attentively.
Working meeting at the Kenya National Innovation Agency (KeNIA). Photo: KeNIA
A group of people are sitting at a conference table with paper, bottled water and small flags in front of them.
Working meeting with the Tanzanian Minister of Education, Science and Technology Adolf Mkenda. Photo: SERI
People are sitting at tables with red and white tablecloths in several rows in a conference room.
Working meeting at the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH). Photo: SERI

Meetings with local ERI stakeholders

On her trip to Kenya and Tanzania, State Secretary Martina Hirayama was accompanied by representatives of several Swiss institutions (Swiss National Science Foundation, Swiss TPH, University of Bern, ETH Zurich and EPFL Lausanne). Her itinerary included talks with local counterparts of these institutions, including the Kenyan National Research Fund (NRF) and the Kenya National Innovation Agency (KeNIA) as well as with the Tanzanian Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH). The purpose of these meetings was to identify potential areas for future cooperation. In order gain clearer insight into the ERI landscape in these two countries, Martina Hirayama and the science delegation paid visits to several research and higher education institutions as well as to start-up companies. 

Group photo taken indoors.
Swiss delegation visits iHub Nairobi, a world-renowned innovation centre, which has served as a role model for technology centres in emerging markets since 2010. Photo: iHub
A group of people in white protective suits are standing around in a white room and listening attentively.
Visit to the Ifakara Health Institute (IHI) in Bagamoyo. Photo: IHI
A group is sitting behind a large wooden table and in front of a wall with four large photgraphs.
Visit to Kazi Yetu. Founded in 2018, this company supports the local processing of African products, creates jobs for women and ensures fair remuneration for smallholder farmers. Photo: SERI

Research cooperation with Tanzania

In Tanzania, the delegation visited one of the sites of the Ifakara Health Institute in Bagamoyo. Switzerland and the Ifakara Health Institute have been working together to position the Ifakara Health Institute as a science and resource centre within national, regional and international networks. This is intended to encourage the sharing of knowledge and experience gained from the North-South partnership between universities in Africa and Switzerland.

In the Tanzanian capital, Dar es Salaam, State Secretary Hirayama met with Adolf Mkenda, the Tanzanian Minister of Education, Science and Technology. They discussed bilateral research ties and future prospects. Switzerland and Tanzania are linked by a 1966 agreement on technical and scientific cooperation and by a 2004 MoU on scientific and technological cooperation. 

Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships for Foreign Scholars and Artists are an important research cooperation instrument: by 2024, around 50 candidates from Tanzania had received scholarships. There are also direct contacts between researchers, some of whose projects have been awarded competitive funding (SNSF and Leading House). The SNSF funded a total of 35 projects involving researchers from Switzerland and Tanzania between 2018 and 2023.

Leading House

The Leading House model enables Swiss higher education institutions to offer cooperation programmes to selected regions on behalf of the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI). The model has proven to be an efficient means of establishing direct contacts and testing new instruments for research and innovation cooperation.

Contact
Dércio Afonso da Silva, SERI Scientific Advisor, Bilateral Relations Unit dercio.afonsodasilva@sbfi.admin.ch +41 58 485 07 46
Authors
Dércio Afonso da Silva
Simone Keller

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