Zetech University has become the first Kenyan university – and only the second institution on the continent – to receive the African Academy of Sciences’ (AAS) highest certification, the platinum level, for Good Financial Grant Practice (GFGP). 

GFGP is an internationally recognised standard for grant management, developed to enhance the financial and grant management capacity of organisations, particularly in the context of global health research. 

The GFGP certification, sponsored by the African Population and Health Research Centre (APHRC), was awarded to Zetech recently “for demonstrating a robust, transparent and efficient financial and grant management system”. 

The AAS established the GFGP in 2018 as the world’s first international standard in grant management. GFGP certification not only recognises the institution’s excellence, but also helps to assure funders that applicants and grant receivers meet internationally respected levels of grants management accountability. 

This includes clear guidelines for institutions, making them more attractive to funders by improving their grant management processes, procedures and policies. 

To be eligible for the certification, institutions must be registered with the Global Grant Community. 

Policies and standard operating procedures 

Professor Njenga Munene, the vice-chancellor of Zetech University, told University World News that being honoured in this way was the result of consistent efforts to create a strong research and innovation environment at the institution. “It required visionary leadership, teamwork, investment in skills development, and a close look at policies and standard operating procedures to follow good grant management practices,” he said. 

“Being the first university in Kenya to receive the award highlights the institution’s credibility and competitiveness in attracting funding, partnerships, and top talent,” he continued. “To the country, it shows Kenya’s ability to meet global standards in research governance and grant management. It builds trust among donors and signals to our youth that success is possible with the right support.” 

According to Munene, the funding success rate of their grants has steadily increased over time and is currently at about 20%. The institution submits an average of about 75 research grant requests per year. “We follow a structured process for managing the grant lifecycle, which includes proposal design, budgeting, implementation, reporting, and close-out. This process is based on our grant management policy and adheres to the GFGP framework,” he added. 

“We perform regular internal audits, conduct monitoring and evaluation reviews, and provide training for principal investigators. Each grant has a designated grant officer, and we use digital tools to track deliverables, timelines, and budgets. We also ensure clear roles, ethical compliance, and transparent procurement processes,” Munene said. 

The GFGP has four levels of recognition, with platinum being the highest tier and representing the epitome of compliance in areas such as financial controls, procurement, risk management, and organisational governance. The other three levels recognised are gold, silver and bronze. 

Countering a negative perception of African institutions 

Dr Catherine Kyobutungi, executive director of the APHRC, told University World News the GFGP recognition depicts a validated measure of how good an institution’s systems and processes are when it comes to grant and financial management. 

“It’s basically a show of fidelity in resource management,” she said. “It has different modules that look at an institution’s policies in areas such as procurement, audit, travel and human resources, among many other standards. A platinum recognition also means that the institution’s standards are now recognised globally.” 

Kyobutungi explained that African institutions have often been thought of as having weak systems that cannot manage large financial grants. The APHRC has been campaigning to counter this perception, especially among academic and research institutions. “We have facilitated the certification process of a lot of these African universities and, currently, about 170 universities have either been certified or are in the process of being certified,” she said. 

“In Kenya, eight universities have completed the certification process and, surprisingly, the majority of them were certified as gold tier. This shows that African institutions can also have good management systems, but people do not talk about it,” Kyobutungi said. 

Murang’a University of Technology was the first university in Kenya to be recognised in this way when it received GFGP gold standard certification, she added. “Our hope is that, as more African institutions get certified, it will help prove to the world that we can be trusted to handle huge amounts of money. This platinum certification, therefore, is not just about Zetech, but also represents the country and the continent as a whole.” 

The other university with a platinum status is the University of the Free State in South Africa. 

Original article written by Wilson Odhiambo and published in University World News.