Intersectional approaches.  Nearly all academics based in Africa — male and female — have access to fewer professional resources than their peers in the North.  We strongly believe that all African scholars deserve more support.  However, we were also struck by the fact that a large majority of university students and professors in Africa are men.  We’re taking a step towards leveling the playing field by offering our year-long PhD Scholars programme to women.

Continuous learning.  Rose and I have been very lucky to learn from the experience of many other organisations which support African scholars.  Conversations with groups like the Association for the Advancement of African Women Economists, the East Africa Social Science Translation Collaborative, the Centre for Higher Education Trust, and the Next Einstein Forum (among many others) have taught us a great deal about the advantages and limitations of existing models of support for African scholars.  We’re also planning several surveys about the professional development needs of African women in academia, so we’ll hear directly from our peers.  Keep an eye on our blog and newsletter for more information.

Academic freedom.  The rise of development consulting has been a mixed blessing for African academics.  It has offered many researchers an additional source of income at a time when university funding is limited.  However, scholars like Mahmood Mamdani argue that consultancies constrain academic freedom by forcing researchers to answer pre-determined questions, rather than allowing them to decide which questions are important to ask.  At Mawazo, we support all manners of research related to African development.  We encourage our Fellowship applicants to ask questions which provide both intellectual stimulation and practical value.