Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in collaboration with Arizona State University (ASU) have won an award of 15 Million United States Dollars from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
This grant amount is to be split equally between KNUST and ASU towards the establishment of a Centre for Applied Research and Innovation in Supply Chain-Africa (CARISCA) at KNUST School of Business, under the Building Research and Innovation for Development: Generating Evidence & Training (BRIDGE-Train) programme.
The Centre will have the objective of training, generating, and translating Supply Chain Management (SCM) research and innovations that are intended to accelerate development outcomes in Ghana and across Africa. The co-directors and principal investigators of the CARISCA centre are Professor Nathaniel Boso from KNUST School of Business and Professor Dale Rogers from ASU’s W. P. Carey School of Business.
CARISCA will leverage local and international networks of governmental, civil society, and industry partners that connect African researchers, practitioners, and businesses to supply chain assets around the world. In this direction, CARISCA will partner with the Government of Ghana, including the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, the Ministry of Health, and the Ghana Health Service to meet local needs for research-informed policy and SCM workforce training. CARISCA will also address other local development challenges and practitioner training needs through collaboration with public actors, private sector partners, and civil society organizations. It will also serve as a sustainable, long-term resource for advancing development-relevant SCM innovation across Africa.
It is anticipated that ASU will mobilize the expertise of its faculty in its SCM Department and leverage its experience in convening diverse private and public stakeholders, including USAID, through its Frontier Economies Logistics Lab (FELL). The goal is to strengthen KNUST’s capacity for innovative SCM research. These capacity strengthening efforts are intended to make the KNUST a hub of supply chain management training and research in Africa.
It is expected that this grant award will help move KNUST closer to fulfilling its strategic mission to “advance knowledge in science and technology through creating an environment for undertaking relevant research, quality teaching, entrepreneurship training and community engagement to improve the quality of life”.
Source: www.knust.edu.gh
