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ARUA launches first centre of excellence

2018/05/21 10:54:41 AM

The African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) has launched the first of 13 ‘centres of excellence’ – with this centre focused on inequality – at an event held at the University of Cape Town’s School of Economics in South Africa last week.

AFRICA

The African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) has launched the first of 13 ‘centres of excellence’ – with this centre focused on inequality – at an event held at the University of Cape Town’s School of Economics in South Africa last week.

The African Centre of Excellence for Inequalities Research (ACEIR), hosted by the University of Cape Town, aims to understand the drivers and consequences of inequality in Africa. It intends to address the analytical and measurement needs that are required for policy interventions and civil society action to turn the tide against inequality, according to a statement.

Led by Professor Murray Leibbrandt of the Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit at the University of Cape Town (UCT), the centre is part of ARUA’s strategy for expanding collaborative research through the development of research teams, a strategy which allows stronger universities in the ARUA network to augment the capacity of less endowed universities.

ARUA, established in 2015, is a network of 16 of Africa's leading universities with a common vision to expand and enhance the quality of research done in Africa by African researchers.

ACEIR will operate through three nodes, namely, the Poverty and Inequality Initiative of UCT, the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research of the University of Ghana and the University of Nairobi in Kenya. ACEIR has received a grant from Agence Française de Développement (AFD) for its initial work and each of the three nodes will receive direct financial support from AFD.

Opening the launch workshop, the incoming vice-chancellor of the University of Cape Town, Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng, reiterated the strong commitment of UCT to ARUA and their interest in the success of the ARUA centres of excellence.

She said the University of Cape Town sees ARUA as an important institution for achieving the broad objectives of UCT, including the decolonisation of the academy in Africa. UCT opted to support the bid to host ACEIR because the objectives of the centre are completely in alignment with the long-term goals of UCT, she said.

Expressing appreciation to UCT for its support of the centre, ARUA Secretary-General Professor Ernest Aryeetey said ACEIR must be an instrument for achieving a critical mass of committed African inequality researchers.

According to an ARUA statement, Africa’s inequality dynamics are a key global issue, particularly given the fact that over the next 30 years the continent’s population will make up a rapidly rising share of the world’s population.

The initial research programme will cover the following:

• Using census and survey data to profile and map inequality and poverty;
  
  
• Describing and analysing contemporary inequality using household surveys;
  
  
• Analysing the dynamics of poverty and inequality using panel data;
  
  
• Using the above evidence as a platform for dialogue over strategies to overcome poverty and inequality.
  

The statement said: “Africa needs to ensure that it is included in the international measurements, such as the Sustainable Development Goals, and for this reason the centre will enhance the quality of relevant data on inequalities across and within African nations.

“Equally important is that the continent must ensure that the specifics of its societies are considered in the analysis both of the factors causing inequality and the consequences of inequality.

“Understanding how data from each country work together to illuminate the status of inequality – and the implications for policy – is the important intellectual agenda of the centre.”