By Xolani Dlamini
CAPSI declared 2022 ‘the year of publication’. Over the last two years, the Centre commissioned several studies focusing on various research areas. These studies have produced over sixteen Research Reports from Philanthropic Foundations, High Net Worth Individuals, Community Philanthropy and Social Investment. CAPSI’s research reports offer a glimpse into the various expressions of philanthropic forms, types, and practices across the continent. Over the last three to four years, CAPSI has worked with several researchers and partners in Africa, to formulate a new narrative on African philanthropy and social investment. These studies focus on High Net Worth Individuals, Social Investment and Philanthropic Foundations as well as philanthropic activity in selected countries. This is just the beginning of the long-anticipated journey to interpret the philanthropic landscape in Africa.
The Centre’s mandate is to bridge the gap in the study, research and practice of philanthropy and social investment in Africa. In line with this mandate, we published two African Philanthropy Conference proceeding reports for 2021 and 2022, themed “Fusing the Philanthropic and COVID-19 Contexts” and “The State of African Philanthropy” respectively. In addition, the Centre is working on two books, one in response to COVID-19 and the other focusing on Barriers to Civil Society.
Following the publication of all commissioned report papers, in 2023 we will be hosting a Spotlight series with authors. This is to create a space for conversation and to foster engagement with each report. It gives authors an opportunity to delve deeper into their findings and recommendations and allow interaction with the wider community.
In response to perceived challenges faced by researchers when looking to publish their research in academic journals, CAPSI, in collaboration with various organisations/publishers, hosted a continuation of a series of webinars that started in 2021. Each webinar looked at a different topic, covering the knowledge needed to publish journal articles. The series aims to provide expert advice on a broad range of publishing topics.
This year’s session, held on 27 October, was titled “Academic Publishing Workshop Series for Emerging Researchers”. The session covered various academic publishing components such as preparing a paper for submission, the peer review process, production and online publishing. One of the speakers represented emerging scholars, sharing their academic journey as early career researchers. The event was a huge success with over one hundred online attendees, including speakers.
Xolani Dlamini is a Digital Publisher specialising in academic/scholarly publishing, particularly Open Access journals. He has been involved in managing and publishing various academic journals in different fields of study.
