FIRAT Offers USD 200,000 SnapGenius Research Facility To Boost Research Excellence In African Universities

The Foresight Institute of Research and Translation (FIRAT) has announced a major continental research infrastructure support initiative valued at approximately USD 200,000, aimed at strengthening research productivity, quality, and global visibility across selected African universities and higher education institutions.

The initiative according to the Institute, provides fully sponsored institutional access to SnapGenius, FIRAT’s AI-powered Research Operating System, designed to support the entire research lifecycle, from study design and data analysis to scientific writing and publication.

The support is being delivered as in-kind research infrastructure rather than direct financial grants, reflecting a strategic shift toward sustainable, system-level research capacity strengthening across African higher education.

In a statement signed by Signed
Mira West and made available to New Telegraph, SnapGenius operates as a unified Research Operating System by integrating research design tools, AI-assisted data collection, automated statistical analysis, interpretation, visualization, and structured scientific writing within a single governed workspace, supported by an assisted research publication library.

By reducing workflow fragmentation and technical bottlenecks, the platform enables researchers and institutions to increase research output, strengthen methodological rigor, enhance consistency in scholarly outputs, and significantly shorten time-to-publication.

According to FIRAT, the initiative directly supports institutional priorities related to improved undergraduate research training, increased postgraduate research throughput, enhanced global competitiveness, alignment with international university ranking and evaluation frameworks, and stronger translation of research into policy, innovation, and development impact.

As part of FIRAT’s broader continental research capacity enhancement agenda, the SnapGenius Research Operating System facility is being extended to 17 universities and polytechnics across Africa, spanning Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zambia.

Participating institutions were selected based on existing collaboration with FIRAT, demonstrated research leadership, and alignment with applied, data-driven research priorities.

Institutions covered under the current phase include the University of Rwanda; Makerere University and Kabale University in Uganda; the University of Zambia, the University of Lusaka, Cavendish University, and UNICAF University in Zambia; as well as Kampala International University in Uganda.

In Nigeria, participating universities and polytechnics include the University of Lagos, the University of Ibadan, the University of Jos, the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Newgate University, Minna, the Federal University of Transportation, Daura, Summit University, Offa, Yaba College of Technology, Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, and the Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro.

Beyond direct institutional deployment, the initiative also engages higher education regulatory and coordinating bodies, including Nigeria’s National Universities Commission, the Higher Education Council of Rwanda, the National Council for Higher Education in Uganda, the Inter-University Council for East Africa, and the Higher Education Authority of Zambia.

These engagements are intended to align institutional-level research productivity improvements with national and regional higher education quality, innovation, and competitiveness frameworks.

According to FIRAT, the SnapGenius deployment is designed not only to enhance individual and institutional research capacity, but also to stimulate healthy competition among African universities by enabling access to modern, integrated research operating infrastructure.

The initiative encourages institutions to move beyond fragmented research tools toward systems that support higher research output, faster dissemination, stronger methodological rigor, and improved global relevance.

“Research excellence today depends as much on systems as it does on talent,” FIRAT noted. “By equipping African universities with advanced research operating infrastructure, we are enabling institutions to compete more effectively in global knowledge production and innovation.”

Institutional deployment of the SnapGenius Research Operating System is currently underway. FIRAT confirms that Vice-Chancellors, Rectors, and agency leadership across participating countries have begun receiving the sponsored access packages, with internal allocation to research units and researchers proceeding through established institutional governance structures.

The initiative represents the first phase of FIRAT’s 2026 continental research systems strengthening agenda, with further expansion planned through cross-institutional research programmes, innovation challenges, and evidence-driven development collaborations.