From Research to Practice: NASENI and The Gambia Plan to Build Africa’s Technology Future – Daily Trust

For decades, one of the major challenges confronting Africa’s development has been the gap between knowledge and practical application. Across the continent, universities and research institutions continue to produce graduates, conduct studies and generate ideas, yet many promising innovations struggle to move from laboratories and classrooms into factories, businesses and communities.

The result is a familiar paradox; a continent rich in human talent and natural resources but heavily dependent on imported technologies, equipment and technical expertise. It is against this backdrop that a new technology cooperation initiative between Nigeria’s National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) and the government of The Gambia is beginning to take shape.

The proposed partnership is not simply about exchanging ideas or signing another institutional agreement. At its heart is an attempt to address one of Africa’s most persistent development problems; how to turn research, technical education and innovation into practical technologies, employable skills and commercially viable products.

The initiative emerged following a high-level experiential learning visit by The Gambia’s Minister of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology, Prof. Pierre Gomez, and his delegation to NASENI headquarters in Abuja on August 12, 2026. The visit provided The Gambian delegation an opportunity to see first-hand how Nigeria’s technology development ecosystem is being structured around research, prototyping, manufacturing, training, technology transfer and commercialisation.

It also opened discussions on the development of a comprehensive Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between NASENI and The Gambian government covering technology development, Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), research, innovation, skills development and commercialisation.

For The Gambia delegation, the interest appears to be driven by a practical need: building an education and skills system that produces young people capable not only of obtaining certificates but also of creating, operating and maintaining technologies.

Prof. Gomez said the delegation was interested in learning from Nigeria’s practical approach to research, development, manufacturing and technology transfer and adapting relevant models to the Gambian environment. “We are looking for several ways of generating energy in Gambia. Our goal is to partner and learn from you to help The Gambian youths,” he said during a visit to NASENI Solar Energy Limited (NSEL). That statement captures the broader thinking behind the proposed partnership.

Rather than treating education and technology as separate sectors, both sides are looking at how the two can be connected to create practical opportunities for young people. One of the most striking moments of the Gambian delegation’s visit came during its tour of NSEL, where officials witnessed actual solar module production; examined technology developed through research and development and were introduced to practical training equipment.

The visit brought into sharp focus the difference between possessing theoretical knowledge and having the technical competence to apply that knowledge. The Head of the Gambian delegation made the point bluntly. “It’s time to move from the African thing of acquiring certificates without practical knowledge, we are ready for technology transfer,” he said. For a continent battling youth unemployment and skills shortages, the distinction is significant.

The expansion of TVET has increasingly become a priority across Africa because of its potential to equip young people with practical skills relevant to industry. But the success of such programmes depends largely on whether students have access to laboratories, workshops, equipment and instructors with practical industry experience. This is where NASENI’s model could offer useful lessons.

The Agency operates through a network of specialised Development Institutes covering areas ranging from scientific equipment and machine tools to agricultural engineering, solid minerals, electronics and renewable energy. Its approach is designed to bring research and development closer to production, while creating pathways for technical training, technology transfer and eventual commercialisation.

Representing NASENI’s Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Khalil Suleiman Halilu, the Director, Technology Business Development and Special Adviser on General Matters, Engr. Ozigi O. Bernard, told the delegation that the Agency was positioned to serve as a technology development, transfer and commercialisation platform for Nigeria and other African countries.

He explained that NASENI’s strategic direction was anchored on the “3Cs” principles which are Creation, Collaboration and Commercialisation. Commercialisation seeks to close gap by ensuring that research outputs can become products and services capable of addressing real-world problems and generating economic value. 

The Gambian delegation’s visit to NSEL was particularly focused on solar photovoltaic systems, reflecting the country’s interest in expanding its energy options while developing local technical capacity. NSEL management presented its work in solar panel production, installation, research, training and the development of needs-tailored solar solutions.

The company also highlighted collaborations and partnerships that have supported youth-oriented interventions in different parts of Nigeria. For The Gambia, the attraction is not only access to solar technology but also the possibility of developing a local pool of technicians capable of installing, maintaining and eventually producing components of renewable energy systems.

The delegation expressed interest in NSEL’s solar power trainer, a practical training tool designed to provide hands-on exposure to solar technology. Such an approach could become important in building the technical workforce required to support the expansion of renewable energy in The Gambia. The potential impact goes beyond electricity.

Reliable and affordable energy is closely linked to education, healthcare, agriculture, small businesses, digital services and industrial development. In rural communities especially, access to renewable energy can provide opportunities for enterprises that would otherwise struggle with unreliable power.

While renewable energy may provide an immediate area of cooperation, the proposed NASENI-Gambia partnership is much broader. NASENI identified several areas with strong potential, including power electronics, embedded systems, industrial automation, agricultural engineering, advanced manufacturing, scientific equipment, materials development, aeronautics, drone technology, solid minerals processing and technical skills development.

The wider objective is therefore to create an ecosystem in which technology is not merely imported but understood, adapted, produced and commercialised locally. That objective aligns with the growing recognition that Africa’s development cannot rely indefinitely on importing solutions designed for different economic and environmental conditions.

For NASENI, the proposed partnership also provides an opportunity to deepen Nigeria’s role in Africa’s technology development landscape. The Agency has strengthened partnerships with universities, polytechnics, research institutions and indigenous private-sector companies. These relationships support areas such as curriculum development, technical training, certification, joint research, technology development and commercialisation.

This approach potentially gives NASENI a platform through which technologies and expertise developed in Nigeria can be adapted for use elsewhere on the continent. The immediate next step is the development of a comprehensive MoU. That document will translate the broad areas of interest identified during the visit into specific programmes, responsibilities and measurable outcomes.

The NASENI-Gambia engagement comes at a time when African countries are increasingly looking inward for solutions to development challenges. No single African country possesses all the expertise, resources or institutions required to build a complete technology ecosystem. Cooperation therefore offers a way of pooling capabilities.

Nigeria has a relatively large research, industrial and technical ecosystem, while smaller countries such as The Gambia can provide opportunities for adapting technologies to different scales and contexts. The potential partnership demonstrates that African cooperation need not be limited to politics, trade and diplomacy. It can also be built around laboratories, workshops, engineering, innovation, skills and manufacturing.

The larger lesson from the Gambian delegation’s visit may therefore be simple: Africa does not merely need more graduates; it needs more people who can build things. It needs technicians who can install and repair solar systems, engineers who can design machines, researchers who can solve local problems, entrepreneurs who can commercialise inventions and institutions capable of turning knowledge into productive capacity. 

This is the space NASENI and The Gambia are seeking to explore. This is the space NASENI has core competences. In this sense, the journey from Banjul to Abuja represents more than a diplomatic exchange. It is a modest but important step towards an Africa that increasingly develops, owns and commercializes the technologies it needs for its own future.