Government and Private Sector Perspectives on Investing in Research and Innovation

What if the biggest barrier to innovation is not funding, but the story we tell about what is worth funding?

In the final episode of Investing in Impact, recorded at the IDIA Summit in Nairobi, host Moses Waweru is joined by Nivi Sharma (Fika) and Nashiru Salifu (Ghana’s Ministry of Environment, Science and Innovation) to explore what it really means to build innovations that last.

As global capital shifts and old development models give way, locally grounded innovators are still being asked to prove their worth repeatedly, often within systems that were never designed around their realities.

The conversation unpacks the gap between research, funding, and real-world application, and points to the need for models that recognise local innovation, align incentives for long-term adoption, and build stronger pathways from idea to impact.

In this episode:

• Why local innovators are often forced to continually validate their work to external systems
• The disconnect between research, capital, and real-world implementation
• How funding models can better support long-term adoption rather than short-term validation
• Why redefining value is essential to stronger innovation ecosystems
• What it takes to recognise and sustain locally led solutions

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