Royal Academy of Engineering’s annual GCRF Africa Catalyst

Jonathan France (Director) and Andrea Broughton (Associate Director) spent a few days in Kigali, Rwanda in April to attend the Royal Academy of Engineering’s annual GCRF Africa Catalyst awardee and stakeholder meeting.

They presented key findings from the research that Ecorys has been carrying out for the Academy. They have been focusing on the capacity and role of professional engineering institutions (PEIs) in sub-Saharan Africa, the challenges they face and the initiatives that they have put into place to deal with these challenges. The audience clearly enjoyed the presentation!

The meeting was a good opportunity for Ecorys colleagues to meet and network with a range of stakeholders and interested parties. It was held in the historic Hotel des Mille Collines, made famous by the film Hotel Rwanda.

The Ecorys team is working with the Academy on a three-year contract and is just over a year into the research. Activities so far include a mapping exercise that records the main PEIs operating in sub-Saharan Africa and the links and relationships between them. The Ecorys team has also recently conducted in-country fieldwork in Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria in order to find out more about the activities of PEIs in these countries. Future activities will include working with local students on specific research topics. In addition to Jonathan and Andrea, the team includes Martina Tortis (Senior Research Manager), Olivia Geymond (Research Manager) and Sara Rizzo (Research Manager).