The National Commission for Research, Science and Technology (NCRST) of Namibia is both a Focal Point for Namibia as well as the host of Southern Africa Innovation Support Programme (SAIS 2) as per the intergovernmental agreement signed between the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland (MFA)  and the Ministry of Higher Education and Technology and Innovation of Namibia (MHETI).

NCRST hosts the  SAIS 2 Programme Management Office (PMO) and has developed a working agreement, which outlines the roles and responsibilities and modus operandi to guide the administrative relationship between the two parties in operationalising SAIS 2 Innovation Fund. As a Namibian legal entity NCRST is the Fund Manager contracting the projects while the SAIS 2 Programme Management Office (PMO) provides technical support and guidance on the administering and managing the contracts.

In assisting with  national awareness raising about the SAIS 2 Innovation Fund, the NCRST led the organisation of the Namibian chapter of the SAIS 2 Innovation Fund Information Day during the First Call for Proposals where  more than 200 representatives of organisations,  and entrepreneurs, attended to get more information about SAIS 2 funding eligibility and the application process. For the 2nd Call for Proposals, NCRST has continued to encourage submission of applications, through newspaper adverts and media engagements whilst continuing to act as the SAIS focal point for Namibian applicants. 

NCRST Manager  of  Innovation and Industrial Research, Lovisa Kambonde in a TV interview with SAIS Project Grantee representative Tim Wucher