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AROCSA at 10: Celebrating a Decade of Strengthening African Civil Society

Theme: “Resilient Civil Societies: A Search for a Sustainable African Response to Global Shifts”
Dates: 30th October – 2nd November 2025
Venue: Kigali, Rwanda

The Association for Research on Civil Society in Africa (AROCSA) proudly marks its 10th Anniversary in 2025. Founded in 2015, AROCSA has spent the last decade creating a vibrant platform for meaningful engagement among scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and civil society actors across Africa. Its mission—to generate and share knowledge on African civil society grounded in global standards of excellence—continues to drive its work toward strengthening development on the continent.

A Journey of Impact

Established in Accra, Ghana, under the auspices of ARNOVA and with support from the Ford Foundation, AROCSA was created as a pan-African response to the complexities of governance and the evolving role of civil society. Over the years, it has grown into a diverse, continental network registered in both Nigeria and the United States, uniting voices from across Africa in research, reflection, and practice.

AROCSA’s achievements over the past decade are anchored around three flagship programs:

1. Annual Conference

The AROCSA Annual Conference is a premier gathering of scholars, civil society leaders, and policymakers. It provides a platform for sharing high-quality research, exchanging practice-based insights, and fostering collaboration among professionals committed to advancing civil society in Africa.

2. PhD Fellowship Program

Through targeted doctoral fellowships, AROCSA has supported emerging African scholars by providing mentorship, training, and access to resources. The program strengthens academic capacity and builds a pipeline of researchers dedicated to African civil society.

3. Innocent Chukwuma Leadership Transition Fellowship Program (ICLTFP)

Launched in 2017 in honor of the late Innocent Chukwuma, a founding pillar of AROCSA, this fellowship supports civil society leaders in documenting their leadership journeys and preparing for successful transitions. Now in its 6th cohort, the program has become a cornerstone for leadership renewal and knowledge transfer across Africa’s civic sector.

Looking Ahead: The Kigali Convening

To commemorate this milestone, AROCSA will host a continental convening and fellows’ reunion in Kigali, Rwanda, from 30th October to 2nd November 2025. The event will bring together:

  • Fellows of the Innocent Chukwuma Leadership Transition Fellowship Program (ICLTFP)
  • Scholars and practitioners in civil society
  • Policymakers and development partners
  • Emerging voices from academia and grassroots organizations

The convening will provide a reflective and forward-looking space to:

  • Assess the impact of AROCSA’s flagship fellowship program over the last eight years.
  • Celebrate and graduate the 6th Cohort of ICLTFP Fellows.
  • Honour the enduring legacy of Innocent Chukwuma.
  • Foster critical dialogue on the future of civil society and African-led philanthropy amid global shifts.

Join Us in Shaping the Future

AROCSA’s 10th Anniversary celebration is more than a milestone—it’s a call to action. It invites Africa’s civil society community to reimagine resilience, sustainability, and leadership in a changing world.

📅 Save the Date: 30th October – 2nd November 2025
📍 Location: Kigali, Rwanda
📧 Contact: info@arocsa.org
🌐 Website: www.arocsa.org

Together, let’s celebrate a decade of learning, leadership, and lasting impact in African civil society.

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The Importance of Pracademics in Africa’s Third Sector

Pracademics  aren’t  unique  to  civil society nor  is  the  term  a  new  concept,  with  the  earliest  citation dating  back  to  the  early  70s. Being a  pracademic  is  simply  being  active  both  as  a  practitioner  and  an academic  in  your  chosen  field.

Whether you  are  an  academic  or  practitioner  in  the  third  sector,  the transition  to  pracademia  isn’t  – and  shouldn’t  be  –  an  altogether  unnatural  transition. Although  much  of  civil  society’s  work takes place  in  the  field,  a  significant  amount  of  it  also  exists  and is  developed  in  scholarly  research, classrooms,  policy  creation  and  much  more. As  the research  going  on  in  schools,  institutes,  and various  civil society,  non-governmental,  and  non-profit  organisations  informs  the  trajectory  of fieldwork,  so  does  the  fieldwork  itself  inform the  result  of  research.  Inevitably,  one cannot  exist without  the  other.

The Association  for  Research  on  Civil  Society  in  Africa  with  the support  of  the  Ford  Foundation  and through  programs  like  the  Leadership  Transition  Fellowship  Program (LFTP),  are  invested in the creation  of  pracademics  in  Africa’s  third  sector. AROCSA  Board  Chair;  Dr. Bhekinkosi  Moyo  describes our  mandate  as that  “of  producing  a different  cadre  of  leaders in  civil  society”.  This is a task  that  we take seriously  because of  what  it  will  mean for  the  development  of  civil society  in Africa.

This  equal representation  of  academia  and practice  being  housed  in  an  individual is  –  to  us  –  a distinct  marker  of  the  ideal civil society  leader  for  Africa.  The  balance  creates  the  kind of  leaders  who are  best  equipped  to  capacitate  African  civil society  by  virtue  of  their  position  and the  vast knowledge  and  experience they  can  imbibe in  younger  actors  in  the sector. They  are able  to  give back  in  a  way  that  truly  touches  upon  every  arm of  the sector  and  will  in  turn  push  it forward.

The  task  of  creating  pracademics  is  a  unique  identifier  of  AROCSA,  one  that  we  intend  to  continue  to pursue  vigorously  in the  service  of  African  development.

Biography of Dr. Pinkie Mekgwe

Dr. Pinkie Mekgwe is International IDEA’s Senior Regional Adviser for Africa and West Asia and her work focuses on strengthening programmatic and administrative coherence and performance. Before joining International IDEA in 2018, she was Executive Director of Internationalism at the University of Johannesburg for the past six years. She also previously served as Deputy Director at the Office of International Education and Partnerships of the University of Botswana and as Programme Officer for the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA). Previously she was a lecturer at the University of Botswana, visiting researcher at the Witwatersrand Institute of Social and Economic Research, and a visiting lecturer at Malmö University in Sweden.

Biography of Ms. Kareman Shoair

Ms. Kareman Shoair has a Masters degree (MA) in Economics from the American University of Cairo in Egypt. She is an Adjunct Faculty in the American University of Cairo’s Economics Department and a Research Manager at the John D. Gerhart Centre for Philanthropy and Civic Engagement. She is also a board member for the Arab Foundations Forum (AFF).

Biography of Dr. Esi Ansah

Dr. Esi Ansah is a founding partner and the current CEO of Axis Human Capital Ltd. She is an Assistant Professor at Ashesi University College. Esi is active in her community and currently serves as the Executive Director of two non-profit organizations – the Paul A. V. Ansah (PAVA) Memorial Foundation and the Association of Ghana’s Elders (AGE), which she co-founded. She is a fellow of the Aspen Institute’s Africa Leadership Initiative – West Africa (ALIWA) and was in July 2015 appointed as a member of the West Africa Board. She was honoured by the New York-based The Network Journal (TNJ) as one of the journal’s “Forty under Forty” African Achievers in 2010.

Biography of Mr, David Kode

David Kode is the Advocacy and Campaigns Lead for CIVICUS, a global alliance of civil society organisations and activists dedicated to strengthening citizen action and civil society around the world. In the past, he has worked with the organisation as a Policy and Research Officer. He has worked with UNICEF South Africa in the Office of the Deputy Representative. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in History and Political Science from the University of Buea, Cameroon and a Masters Degree in International Relations from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.

Biography of Dr. Godwin Murunga

Dr. Godwin Murunga is a historian and political analyst of Kenyan origin. He is the Executive Secretary of CODESRIA. He has lectured at the Institute of Development Studies of the University of Nairobi. He was the director of the Africa Leadership Centre in Nairobi. He was a member of the Executive Committee of CODESRIA for two consecutive terms (2005-2011). Dr. Murunga has many years of robust scholarship under his belt, evidenced by the incisive analysis that characterized his numerous scholarly publications. He also has valuable teaching and management experience and a deep knowledge of the higher education landscape in Africa.

Biography of Dr. Ijeoma Nwagwu

Dr. Ijeoma Nwagwu earned her doctorate in Law (S.J.D) and Masters in Law (L.L.M) degrees from Harvard Law School and was awarded the Landon H. Gammon prize for academic excellence. After attending the Nigerian Law School, Ijeoma worked as legal counsel for the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), where she also produced documentaries on law, human rights, and development themes with Channels Television, Lagos and the Institute for Democracy in South Africa (IDASA). Ijeoma taught International Trade Law and Human Rights at St. Mary’s University College, London and was on the research team for the World Bank Assisted Science and Technology Education Post-Basic (STEP-B) project in Nigeria. She has also conducted research training for the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) in Senegal. Ijeoma is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association.

Biography of Dr. Bhekinkosi Moyo

Dr. Bhekinkosi Moyo is a writer, author, researcher, and thought leader with keen interest in questions of African resources, democracy, and governance. He has championed the African discourse on philanthropy, contributed to the growth of many African civil society formations and has taken part in most of the continental processes of development and governance. He has written extensively on African philanthropy, civil society, and governance. Equally, he has gained considerable experience in management, leadership, and strategic roles over a significant period.

Profile of Shaninomi Eribo

Shani began his development sector career in 2011 leading rotating multicultural teams on face to face fundraising campaigns across the entire NorthEast of Scotland on behalf charities such as Oxfam, Marie Curie Cancer Care, and the Anthony Nolan Trust. Prior to that, he successfully managed the delivery of high-end residential and hospitality development projects valued at over $50M along the Lekki corridor.

He joined ActionAid in 2013 where he drew on fundraising experiences acquired in the UK to drive the launch and implementation of ActionAid’s structured individual regular giving fundraising program; a ‘first-of-its-kind’ by an international charity in Nigeria which sought to raise unrestricted funds locally. This in addition

In 2016, he joined the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG); Nigeria’s leading member based business policy advocacy organization as Donor Relations & Fundraising Manager where he initiated the development of the organizational strategy for 2016-2018, in addition to supporting the hosting of several events including its flagship annual Nigerian Economic Summit, and driving fundraising across its 9 active policy commissions covering economic sectors ranging from Agriculture and Food Security, to Science and Technology.

He has also provided fundraising consultancy services to indigenous NGO’s including recently working with an agricultural technology start up funded by Propcom Maikarfi to define its business and revenue models.

He holds an MSc in Corporate Communications & Public Affairs from the Aberdeen Business School in Scotland, and a BSc in Estate Management from the Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-ife, Nigeria. He also holds a PRINCE2 Foundation certificate in Project Management and has benefitted from several in-house trainings in Rigorous Programme Management delivered by the Boston Consulting Group in Lagos, as well as several fundraising trainings covering individuals, corporates’ and institutions in Aberdeen, Bangkok and Johannesburg.

He is passionate about protecting people and the environment, and enjoys reading, listening to world music, playing chess, pool, and travelling.

Profile of Amina T. Banu

Amina T. Banu is a media producer. She has worked across the media industry for almost a decade in the UAE and Nigeria in writing, editing, public relations, online content creation, and filmmaking. She began her professional life in the Marketing and Public Relations industry in 2013 in Dubai, UAE. Most notably, she worked for a boutique public relations firm – The PR Professionals – where she was tasked with communications, client relations, and talent and event management. Since then she has honed her skills in communication, media production, and event management across industries from fashion to IT.

She has also had experiences in the civil society sector in Nigeria. In 2015 in Abuja, Nigeria, Amina headed a social media team with the Youth Initiative for Advocacy Growth and Advancement (YIAGA) during Nigeria’s presidential and gubernatorial elections. In the run up to the election she worked as YIAGA’s online content creator and co-hosted voter education radio programs.

She has a BA (Hons) in Journalism and Communications Studies and an MA in Media Production.