The Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, Samuel Nartey George, has urged researchers and scientists at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) to remain persistent in developing home-grown technologies, insisting that failure is an essential part of the innovation process.
Mr George made the remarks during a visit to the university’s Photonics and Optics Laboratory on Monday, October 12, 2026, as part of his Ashanti Regional tour to inspect digital and telephony projects.
“We shouldn’t be afraid to fail, because the countries where today we order everything from… failed for decades. But because they were consistent and persistent with failure, they learnt how not to fail,” he said.
The Minister’s message comes as researchers at the laboratory work on locally developed technologies with potential applications in encryption training, healthcare, environmental monitoring and the detection of counterfeit medicines.
During the visit, Mr George and his delegation were taken through the facility by Dr Akyana Britwum, the laboratory’s Principal Investigator and Scientific Lead, alongside Prof. Kwabena Biritwum Nyarko, Provost of the KNUST College of Engineering.
Among the innovations showcased was a low-cost Quantum Key Distribution setup designed for encryption training, as well as locally built spectrometers intended to make scientific tools for environmental and health monitoring more affordable.
The delegation also examined a through-barrier Raman spectrometer developed at the University of St Andrews in Scotland by Dr George Dwapanyin and Dr Graham Bruce. The instrument can identify medicines and other substances through sealed packaging without opening them, offering a potential tool in efforts to detect counterfeit drugs.
The equipment is permanently installed at KNUST, while the laboratory has benefited from international collaboration through the UK-funded BOSOMTWE project with the University of St Andrews. The partnership has supported capacity building in microscopy and spectroscopy and helped train Ghanaian scientists.
Mr George’s call for persistence highlighted the need for Ghana to strengthen its own technological capabilities rather than depend heavily on imported solutions.
He urged stakeholders to look beyond laboratory experimentation and consider how locally developed innovations could be scaled up for practical use, industrial application and job creation, particularly for young graduates.
Prof. Nyarko similarly emphasised the importance of ensuring that research conducted at the university delivers benefits beyond the academic environment and contributes to development across Ghana and the wider sub-region.
“We must not just experiment here and learn how to build the systems and train our people, but we must begin to look at how this knowledge becomes beneficial to not just Ghana, but the sub-region,” he said.
He added that the work was helping to future-proof the training of scientists and technology-based professionals.
By: Ekow Annan/newsalertgh.com
