Ghana's Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) says it is on track in the establishment of a technology commercialization company.

The ‘CSIR Plus’ company was incorporated in 2009 to run as a public-private sector venture, functionally independent from the mainstream corporate CSIR management.

Director-General of the Council, Dr. Abdulai Baba Salifu, says the initiative is to further enhance the corporate goal of generating science and technology products for the benefit of society.

In an interview with Luv Biz Report, Dr. Salifu said the business should take off as soon as a Chief Executive Officer is engaged to take charge of operations.

“One of the reasons why we’re slightly behind in actualizing it has been the issue of a chief executive who is ready to grow the company because for now, we don’t think we may be competitive in terms of the remuneration level we may need to pay that person”, he noted.

CSIR is the largest scientific research organization in Ghana, operating under the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology (MEST) and collaborates with all the other Ministries particularly the Ministries of Food and Agriculture, Land and Forestry, Health, and Education.

There are 13 research institutes under the Council with mandates covering specialized areas in agriculture and agro-processing, industry, environment, building and road construction, fisheries, forestry, water resources, the social sciences and some aspects of health.

Some of the institutes have over the years developed and released improved crop varieties and their production technologies.

The CSIR-Plus has the primary purpose of identifying and commercializing CSIR technologies and services on sound business lines.

The objective is to consolidate and develop commercialization linkages with CSIR and industry, government agencies and the investment community.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh