By Dr Wycliffe Nduga Ouma
The Research Portfolio is responsible for all research-related activities at the Centre, including managing the research associates and ensuring all research activities are carried out in a timely manner. Research associates form a significant asset for the Centre as they are the machine that churns out the various research projects that CAPSI undertakes.
The Portfolio commissioned a number of research projects, including a book project on ‘Barriers to Civil Society Organizations in Africa’. In the spirit of providing emerging academics the opportunity to flourish, CAPSI commissioned five emerging researchers to examine focal and emerging areas of research on philanthropy and the philanthropic ecosystem. This project is well underway and is expected to be completed by April 2023.
In the month of August, we hosted the inaugural African Philanthropy Academic Conference. This event served as a precursor to the African Philanthropy Conference and hosted presentations of 40 papers to an audience of 95 delegates attending the one-day event held in Johannesburg, South Africa.
To manage the research output more efficiently, the Research Portfolio has developed a schedule for all the researchers working on various streams of research, to periodically present the progress of their work among peers. This offers researchers the opportunity to generate constructive critiques from peers to further improve the quality of their work. Additionally, the research portfolio has developed a quarterly meeting/workshop session for all the research associates at CAPSI. The inaugural meeting took place on the 29th of November in Johannesburg, at Wits Business School.
Dr Wycliffe Nduga Ouma is a Research Associate managing the research portfolio at CAPSI. His interests lie in Financial Economics, which enables him to blend financial economics research within philanthropy.