Researchers seek ways to bridge academia-policy gap

Rwanda suffers a huge disconnect between the academia and policy makers resulting in low academic research input in national strategies, local researchers have said. In this year’s Rwanda Governance Scorecard (RGS 2014), which was presented in March, the academia ranked lowest among the non-state actors in policy formulation. Commenting on the development, Prof Anastase Shyaka, the Rwanda Governance Board chief executive, said the level at which members of the academia engage the public on policy debate was low, which did not reflect the growing number of universities in the country in recent years. To change status quo, the University of Rwanda’s College of Business and Economics will, today, host its first conference dubbed, “Eastern Africa Business and Economic Watch.” The two-day forum is expected to bring together researchers, policy makers and business sector practitioners with about 68 research papers set to be presented by researchers from Rwanda, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Sweden and Hungary. Through the inaugural conference the College of Business and Economics hopes to position itself as a lead research institution within the country and the region, according to Papias Musafiri (PhD), the principal of the College. The conference, organised by the College in partnership with Jonkoping International Business School, Sweden, is themed, “Recent trends in economic development, finance and management research in Eastern Africa.” The College of Business and Economics is currently engaged in a partnership with the Swedish university, which has so far seen the local university receive teaching assistance in post-graduate studies. Addressing to journalists ahead the forum, yesterday, Musafiri said the objective of the conference was to help bridge the existing gap. He noted that part of the reason for the existing gap was the complexity of the research papers which they hoped to address through simple policy briefs. “We hope to bridge the existing gap through such conferences as well as regular policy briefs. As an institution we also plan to ensure that we engage policy makers prior to and during research,” Musafiri said. The research papers to be presented seek to address a number of issues, including, Millennium Development Goals progress, regional cooperation, energy-growth nexus, entrepreneurship and innovation, among others. Dr Chika Ezeanya, the chair of the local organising committee, said the research papers to be presented were relevant to the national priority areas and would be key in informing creativity and innovation. “For example, through research we can ensure that the country benefits fully from regional integration by informing not only the policy makers but also the general public,” Dr Ezeanya said. Prof Rama Rao, a lecturer at College of Business and Economics, who is also part of the conference organisers, said the College also hopes to further bridge the gap through increased research dissemination not only to inform policies, but also provide feedback on the implementation of various strategies such as Vision 2020 and second Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Researchers seek ways to bridge academia-policy gap