The Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) has earned double recognition on the continental stage for its leadership in advancing research management and supporting entrepreneurial ecosystems.
The university was honoured at both the 2026 Southern African Research and Innovation Management Association (SARIMA) Excellence Awards and the 2026 Africa Startup Ecosystem Builders (ASEB) Awards.
The dual accolades highlight NUST’s ongoing efforts to strengthen institutional research capacity, foster innovation networks, and build sustainable frameworks for startups across Namibia and the broader region.
At the SARIMA Awards held early in September, NUST won the Organisational Growth in Innovation Management Award, while the NUST Innovation Hub (NUST-i) was recognised as the Technology Transfer and Commercialisation Champion of the Year at the ASEB Awards.
NUST described the accolade as a recognition of organisational growth achieved through creative, impactful approaches that strengthen innovation management capacity and support the progression of ideas to practical application and commercialisation.
NUST-i’s win highlights the University’s growing contribution to technology transfer and commercialisation across Africa. The Hub won following its selection as an official top five finalist from a pool of 1,786 nominations across the continent.
Valerie Garises from the Directorate of Research, Innovation and Postgraduate Development stated, “Since establishing its innovation function in 2018, NUST has strengthened support for students, researchers and emerging entrepreneurs through entrepreneurship training, prototype development, intellectual property support and industry engagement.”
Garises further attributed the successful progress to the transformation of the Namibia Business Innovation Institute into NUST-i. Together with FABlab and the Innovation Design Lab, the Hub supports experimentation and the development of practical solutions. ICE-PIP strengthens entrepreneurial skills, while the All-4-One initiative provides seed funding for promising ideas and early-stage prototypes.
“This award is a proud moment for our team and the NUST community. It reflects our collective effort to give promising ideas the support they need to develop into practical solutions,” Garises said while reflecting on the award.
NUST was also recognised in 2022, when the University received the Organisation Growth in Research Management Award.
