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Good practice Imported

KNUST Technology Consultancy Centre and the GRATIS Foundation Network

Ghana · Kumasi · See the Ghana profile · See the Kumasi profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 4% 91/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Founded in 1972, KNUST's Technology Consultancy Centre pioneered Ghana's Intermediate Technology Transfer Unit model with informal-sector artisans in Kumasi; replicated nationally via the government's GRATIS Foundation, which took over 31 more Technology Solution Centres in 2025.

31 centres
Technology Solution Centres handed over to GRATIS Foundation (July 2025)
21 facilities
Existing Regional Technology Facilities prior to handover
5 facilities
New facilities established under REP III
283 artisans
Artisans trained via WFP partnership
11 regions
Regions reached by artisan training
KNUST Technology Consultancy Centre and the GRATIS Foundation Network

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) / GRATIS Foundation
Period
1972–2025
Keywords
informal-sector manufacturing, appropriate technology, industrial extension, vocational training

Context

KNUST's Technology Consultancy Centre (TCC) was established in January 1972 to link the university's engineering research with Kumasi's informal manufacturing sector, developing the "Intermediate Technology Transfer Unit" (ITTU) concept for small-scale metalworkers in the Suame Magazine industrial cluster.

Objectives

The aim was to diffuse appropriate machine-tool and production technologies to informal-sector artisans, and later to formalise the model as permanent national infrastructure.

Activities

A first ITTU opened in Suame in 1980, a second in Tamale in 1982, and in 1987 the government created the GRATIS Foundation to coordinate a national network of Regional Technology Transfer/Facility Centres. In July 2025, Ghana's Rural Enterprises Programme handed over 31 fully equipped Technology Solution Centres to GRATIS Foundation, alongside a parallel World Food Programme partnership delivering hands-on technology training.

Results

The July 2025 handover added 31 centres to an existing network of 21 Regional Technology Facilities plus 5 new centres established under REP III. The WFP partnership trained more than 283 artisans across 11 regions. Consolidated recent figures for jobs created or revenue generated by the full network are not available.

Conclusions

The model's institutional longevity and geographic replication are well documented, but economic-impact claims beyond training and facility counts should be treated as indicative rather than fully quantified.

Implementation
Indicative cost
High (€500k–€5M) — No budget figures are published in the sources; classified as high cost based on the scale of a nationwide network of dozens of regional technology centres sustained by government funding over five decades.
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — The institution has operated continuously since 1972 (TCC) and 1987 (GRATIS Foundation nationalisation), with new facility handovers as recently as July 2025 — a five-decade, ongoing national infrastructure.
Staffing & skills
KNUST engineering researchers and TCC staff, GRATIS Foundation regional centre staff, Rural Enterprises Programme (REP) implementers, World Food Programme training partners

Conditions for success

  • University research capacity linked directly to informal-sector artisans
  • Government formalisation via a dedicated national foundation (GRATIS, 1987)
  • Sustained multi-decade government funding and international partner support (WFP, REP)

Common failure modes

  • Lack of consolidated recent economic-impact data (jobs, revenue) makes it hard to verify the current effectiveness of the full network

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

Attachments

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