The African Network for Economics of Learning, Innovation and Competence Building Systems (AfricaLics) is pleased to announce a call for Expressions of Interest (EOI) from African scholars and researchers based within and outside Africa to join the Advancing Inclusive Agricultural Innovation for Climate Resilience in Sub-Saharan Africa (AACRA) Research Coordination Area (RCA). This initiative aims to build a vibrant community of practice focused on generating and coordinating cutting-edge research on Agricultural innovation and resilience in the African context.
Theme: Critical, Retrospective and Creative Perspectives on Innovation & Society in Africa.
Date: 10th - 12th November 2026
University of the Witwatersrand
Venue: Wits School of Governance, South Africa
The 7th AfricaLics Conference seeks to critically reflect on the relationship between innovation and society in Africa — examining power, inequality, and the social dimensions of innovation in the digital age. It calls for new, forward-thinking approaches to achieving shared development goals across the continent and globally.
The AfricaLics Secretariat is pleased to announce that the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida) has approved a new grant that will enable AfricaLics to scale up its efforts to strengthen research capacity in the field of African Innovation and Development studies.
With its new title “Optimising Research Capacity on Innovation and Development in Africa through The African Network On Learning, Innovation And Competence Building Systems (Africalics RCS)”,the project will run from July 2025 to December 2029 and will be hosted by the African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS) in Kenya. Oversight of the project will be provided by the AfricaLics Scientific Board (ASB).
Submission Deadline - 15th April 2026
The 12th AfricaLics Ph.D. Academy on Innovation and Competence Building Systems will be held in Johannesburg, hosted by the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) and the AfricaLics Research Capacity Strengthening Project.
The Academy will be held as an in-person event at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) campus in Johannesburg, South Africa.
This is a call for students enrolled in a PhD at an African university who work in the field of innovation and development studies to apply to participate in this residential PhD Academy event.
What We Do
AfricaLics connects scholars working within the areas of innovation and development with specific focus on these issues for African countries. We provide networking opportunities and increase access to education to enhance economic and socially sustainable development in Africa. We provide these opportunities for scholars through various activities including: conferences, PhD academies , visiting fellows programme for PhD students and post-doctoral researchers and dedicated online networking platforms.
Thematic Areas
AfricaLics initially worked within various themes that were seen by scholars involved in the establishment of the network to be under-researched and later has worked to fill some of the gaps. Today members of AfricaLics work on many different topics and thematic areas, ranging from firm level innovation, STI indicators, agricultural innovation systems, innovation and low-carbon development to inclusive innovation and the intersections between innovation and global value chains.
The network currently has two established thematic coordinators: one on development of STI indicators suitable for African contexts and the other on the intersections between innovation and Global Value Chains. Reports from the two thematic coordinators will be posted on our website as they are being completed. Two more thematic coordinators are in the making (on green transition/energy and agricultural innovation systems respectively).
Membership
Members of AfricaLics are expected to be supportive of the goals as they are set out in the preamble above and to act accordingly. They are also expected to take an active part in AfricaLics Conferences and – where relevant – in AfricaLics Academies and participate in other activities of the network.
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