Institutionalising rural transport knowledge and research capacity in sub-saharan Africa

Abstract

Paper presented at the 32nd Annual Southern African Transport Conference 8-11 July 2013 "Transport and Sustainable Infrastructure", CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa.

Despite limited and declining resources since the 1980’s (financial, human and capital) there have been many important research projects funded by programmes such as the Africa Community Access Programme (AFCAP), other donor agencies and national budgets. These research projects have been undertaken to advance the Africa-specific knowledge-base for the provision of road infrastructure and the associated transport services, especially in rural areas. The problem is that the valuable knowledge generated from the various projects is fragmented and uncoordinated; and resides in different organisations (including donor agencies) in different countries throughout sub-Saharan Africa and beyond. This paper presents a framework for a formalised approach to institutionalising research management and knowledge transfer activities at a national level in sub-Sahara Africa. In addition, a coordinated approach is presented to harness the vast amount of fragmented information that has been generated throughout the region for better use and implementation. In this regard, it is recommended that a structure of national research centres should be established. The national research centres would receive technical assistance and support from regional coordinating research hubs under the oversight of the regional economic communities.