The Presidential Implementation Committee (PIC) on Technology Transfer and Information Exchange between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Czech Republic is tasked with the sole objective of implementing the activities of an agreement signed between Nigeria, represented by the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), and the Czech Republic, represented by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TA CR). The Agreement is to promote the adoption and deployment of technological solutions in different sectors of the Nigerian economy. On May 18, 2022, the PIC opened the Call for Public Proposals for Joint Research and Development (R&D) Projects, which closed on July 13, 2022, with the aim of funding 25 projects in focal areas ranging from:
· Agricultural and Food Technology;
· Mining and Industrial Development, and
· General Manufacturing for SME Development
Two hundred and eighty-five (285) project proposals were received from registered companies and researchers in Nigeria in response to the call. Following the evaluation of the proposals received, twenty-five (25) Nigerian-registered companies met the criteria set by the Assessment Committee, leading to the announcement of the top 25 projects to be funded in the year 2023 on the 4th Call of the Delta-2 Programme.
The PIC-NASENI has established a joint Monitoring and Evaluation team to oversee the implementation of the selected projects from inception, all through to execution and commercialisation of the resulting R&D. Following this announcement, the PIC will proceed to complete the consortiums consisting of R&D organisations based in the Czech Republic making up one side of the partnership, and R&D organisations based in Nigeria making up the other side of the partnership. The M&E Committee will then begin formal checks on these established consortiums in preparation for funding in January 2023.
Congratulations to all the Successful Applicants and to encourage those who didn’t make the list as well as potential applicants, to stay tuned to PIC-NASENI programme platforms and news outlets for information and updates on the next call for public proposals in March 2023. Click to view selected projects