Sub-Saharan Africa - Collaboration

In addition to studies of the region, Oxford is engaged in a myriad of collaborations and research projects with African partners spanning the University’s four divisions.

KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme
The KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme is a collaborative research programme into malaria and infectious diseases. It was established in Kenya by the Wellcome Trust, Oxford University and the Kenyan Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), a government research body in the Ministry of Health.

The Programme takes a cross-disciplinary approach, which includes a major focus on malaria in clinical studies, parasitology and public health, as well as genetic, clinical and immune-response epidemiology. A strong clinical focus stems from a team of qualified paediatricians who combine clinical work with their own research. The aim is to inform the delivery of healthcare within existing African structures, oriented by local priorities and relying on local scientists.

The labs in Kilifi are currently following the health of 250,000 adults and children living nearby.  Many active research projects are being undertaken as part of this collaboration. Dr Julie Makani of Oxford's Nuffield Department of Medicine is tracking the health of over 2,500 children with sickle cell anaemia in Tanzania. Professor Kevin Marsh is researching immunity to malaria in Kenya. Professor Tom Williams is investigating the genetics underlying the differential susceptibility to infectious disease among young children in Kenya.

Oxford Institute on Ageing
African Research on Ageing Network (AFRAN) is part of the Oxford Institute on Ageing, one of the research programmes of the future-orientated Oxford Martin School. AFRAN sets out to link African researchers with colleagues at Oxford and to facilitate research with Oxford and other universities and research organizations. Current AFRAN members include Africa-based individual and institutional members, as well as members from European and international research institutions.

Young Lives
The Young Lives project, headed up by researchers at Oxford’s Department for International Development, is an ambitious large-scale study tracking the lives of children from four different developing countries over a period of 15 years. One of the study countries is Ethiopia where Young Lives works in partnership with the Ethiopian Development Research Institute (EDRI) and Save the Children-UK, Ethiopia. Young Lives researchers are based in 20 communities in the states of Amhara, Oromia, the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNP) and Tigray, as well as in the capital, Addis Ababa.

Oxford Central Africa Forum
The Oxford Central Africa Forum (OCAF) seeks to push forward research on the multitude of challenges faced by the populations of Central Africa. OCAF brings together academic researchers, graduate students, development practitioners and policy-makers from the African Studies Centre and across the University to discuss current events as well as historical developments. OCAF  supports the diffusion of research and provides a platform for exchanges of ideas between stakeholders who don’t always find it easy to dialogue with each other.

Oxford China-Africa Network
The Oxford University China-Africa Network (OUCAN) brings together scholars, graduate students and experts from the field to research and evaluate critical political, cultural and socio-economic trends. The rapid deepening and broadening of ties between the African continent and China is the great untold story of our age; it is the single most important geopolitical trend of the 21st century for Africa, and China’s economic miracle cannot be understood without analyzing its multifarious partnerships with African countries. OUCAN's focus is thus a broad and multifaceted one, with research and analysis including study of  cultural bodies, NGOs, small and medium-sized businesses, minorities and ordinary people in addition to governments and state-owned enterprises.

International Migration Institute
The International Migration Institute (IMI) has cultivated collaborative relationships with a number of African institutions since it was established in 2006. These include formal research partnerships for the ‘African Perspectives on Human Mobility’ project which concluded in early 2012.

This project used detailed empirical study of the partner countries to explore alternative conceptions of human mobility across different groups. It was undertaken in partnership with the Université de Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the University of Ghana, the Université Mohammed V in Morocco and the University of Ibadan in Nigeria. As part of this initiative, IMI has organised workshops bringing together African migration researchers and also developed a database of research and expertise.