The African Research and Innovation Hub (ARIH), recently launched by African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), is poised to unlock up to US$70 billion annually in economic gains for Africa. The hub aims to boost innovation-driven sustainable growth by addressing the continent’s low investment in research and development (R&D) and its underperformance in research output.
ARIH is designed to catalyze technological sovereignty, intra-African trade, and structural transformation of African economies. It plans to achieve this by fostering scientific research, promoting innovation, and helping commercialize homegrown technologies. The hub will build partnerships among academia, industry, and policymakers to double Africa’s R&D expenditure and accelerate intra-African trade.
According to Dr. Yemi Kale, Afreximbank’s Group Chief Economist and Managing Director for Research, Africa currently contributes less than three percent of global research output. “Accelerating Africa’s innovation ecosystem to support economic growth, trade diversification, and technological sovereignty is, therefore, an objective we are happy to commit to,” he stated during the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF2025).
He added that the vision for ARIH is to be a platform that converts intellectual capital into “industrial competitiveness and trade-led growth,” recognizing that doubling Africa’s R&D expenditure to one percent of GDP could unlock up to US$70 billion annually.
At IATF2025, ARIH recognized the potential of Africa’s talent by presenting awards to 12 groundbreaking research and innovation projects from across Africa and the Caribbean. The winners were selected from over 200 applicants in a competition initiated by Afreximbank. The awards included both certificates and cash prizes, and were presented by Mrs. Kanayo Awani, Afreximbank’s Executive Vice President for Intra-African Trade and Export Development.
Dr. Anthony Coleman, Director for Development Research at Afreximbank, encouraged the winners to broaden their innovative horizons to tackle Africa’s technology gaps and development challenges. He assured them that Afreximbank is committed to nurturing ARIH as a long-term platform for Africa’s innovation ecosystem.