Collaborative PhD Programme (CPP) in Economics Overview

Many universities in Africa run various doctoral programmes in economics, but the quality of both programme and output varies widely. The African Economic Research Consortium (AERC), along with universities and other stakeholders within and outside Africa, agreed that a collaborative PhD degree programme in economics would be the optimum way to address the quality issues. Such a programme would not only complement existing programmes, it would also tap, harness, and pool human and other resources available on the continent to produce a common, uniform, high-quality doctoral degree programme in Africa. With these considerations, AERC developed and launched its Collaborative PhD Programme in Economics (CPP) in December 2002.

The first cadre of 19 students began their studies in January 2003. Six were enrolled at the University of Yaounde II and eight at the University of Dar es Salaam. Another five started their coursework at the University of Ibadan in February. They all came together in October 2003 at the Joint Facility for Electives, a four-month residential study programme in Nairobi that presents common elective courses. Since then the AERC has supported 21 students each year. In addition other self sponsered students or students sponsered by other donors have joined the program.

From the outset, the basic objective has been to ensure high quality Economic study. Moreover, one of its comparative advantages is that it is more directly relevant to Africa - in terms of research relevance, policy orientation, use of the African reality (data, literature, focus, examples and so on), and development of theories, literature, and academic materials relevant to Africa - than any comparable doctoral programme in economics in the world.

Objectives of the Collaborative PhD Programme

The Collaborative PhD Programme in Economics has four main objectives:

• Individual capacity building: This involves the production for Africa of personnel with high-level analytical skills, for employment in universities, research institutes, tertiary educational institutions, government, central banks, non-government organizations, and international organizations.

• Institutional capacity building: This entails building capacity for teaching and research at various institutions in Africa (universities, research institutions, tertiary educational institutions, and so on). For example, it is expected that at least 75 percent of the admitted students to the programme will be university staff members. Universities will also benefit from the short-term courses, improvements to teaching and research facilities and equipment at various institutions as a result of the programme; and from collaboration, networking and academic fellowship across the continent.

• Enhancement of the relevance of curricula, theory, teaching and research on "African problems in search of African solutions": This is to be achieved by stimulating and enhancing the development of theories and research on African problems by students, instructors and researchers. The formulation of curricula, teaching and research will be premised on African problems and African examples and applications.

• Efficient management of the programme: AERC and participating universities will strive to implement the programme at the highest level of efficiency so as to maximize output.
  

Expected Results

The immediate and visible result of the project is the annual output of at least 20 high-quality PhD holders, starting with the year 2007 - a product that will contribute considerably to meet the need for high-calibre personnel as instructors and researchers in universities, research institutions and other tertiary educational institutions in Africa, and is bound to enhance the teaching and research capacities in the institutions. Other specific results of the project will be:

• Increase high-level analytical skills on the continent.

• Enhance teaching and research capacity in universities, research institutions, other tertiary educational institutions, governments, non-government organizations, and other bodies and international organizations in Africa.

• Increase output of professionals conversant with and specialists in African problems - thus leading to the possible emergence of various theories and African solutions to these problems.

• Enhance quality and relevance of research to Africa.

• Gradually build-up and retain African scholars in Africa, leading to the eventual reduction of the brain drain from the continent.

• Enhancement of the economics profession, in general, and standards at lower levels of teaching and research, as a result of trickle-down and demonstration effects of the programme.
  

The Coursework Component

This is a PhD degree by coursework and thesis. A student embarks on the production of a thesis only after successfully completing the following:

• Courses in three core fields: Microeconomics, Macroeconomics and Quantitative Methods.

• Courses in two elective fields selected from a rich variety: Agricultural Economics, Labour Economics, Industrial Economics, Health Economics, Environmental Economics, Monetary Economics, Public Sector Economics, International Economics, Development Economics, Financial Economics, and Econometrics.

• Comprehensive examinations in four fields: Microeconomics, Macroeconomics and any two electives.

Thesis Workshops

Although supervision of PhD theses is the responsibility of the concerned degree-awarding university, three thesis workshops are conducted during the course of research and production of the theses. The workshops are meant to ensure that high-quality theses are produced and to ascertain that students' progress is smooth so as to avoid unnecessary delays arising from shortcomings in supervision. The workshops are:

• Research proposals workshop: For students to defend thesis proposals before a panel of national, regional and international experts.

• Post-fieldwork workshop: For students to present preliminary analyses of fieldwork data before a panel of selected experts.

• Workshop on draft theses: For students to defend draft theses before a panel of selected experts (before they come up with final drafts to be defended at their degree-awarding universities).
  
  These worshops are held jointly with AERC Biannual workshops to maximize synergy between Training and Research.
  

Emphasis on Collaboration

The doctoral programme is a product of collaboration across the African continent. The collaboration covers all areas:

• Formulation of the rationale and design of the programme itself.
  

• Development and approval of core and elective course outlines.
  

• Teaching of the core and elective courses.
  

• Administration (including the setting and marking) of the comprehensive examinations.
  

• Supervision of theses: sourcing of supervisors, participation in the thesis workshops, and examination of the theses.
  

• Ensuring the smooth running of the programme; there is, for example, a PhD Academic Board that is responsible for monitoring the progress of the programme.
  

• Periodic reviews of the programme.
  

• Human and other resources pooled from within and outside Africa to ensure that this collaboration is continuous, effective and optimal.

Participating Universities

All universities in sub-Saharan Africa are eligible to participate in the programme. Through a series of stakeholders' meetings spanning from June 2001 to May 2002, it was agreed that the universities be classified into three groups:

Host Degree-Awarding Universities: These are the universities that have been assigned the responsibility of teaching courses in core fields. For purposes of implementing the programme, the continent is subdivided into four regions, Southern Africa, Eastern Africa, Anglophone West Africa and Francophone Africa. There is, to start with, one host degree-awarding university per region. The universities are:

• University of Cape Town for Southern Africa
  
• University of Dar es Salaam for Eastern Africa
  
• University of Ibadan for Anglophone West Africa
  
• University of Yaounde II for Francophone Africa

Non-Host Degree-awarding universities (DAUs): These are the additional universities charged with the responsibility of awarding PhD degrees in economics to students who fulfil all the requirements for the award of the degree under the programme. The DAUs admit students on the basis of agreed criteria, send the students to the regional host universities to take core courses and thereafter to a central facility - the Joint Facility for Electives (JFE) - to take elective courses, organize the supervision and production of student PhD theses (including allowing students and their supervisors to attend PhD workshops), and award the degrees to successful students. The following universities are categorized as non-host degree-awarding universities:

• University of Witwatersrand (South Africa)
  
• University of Nairobi (Kenya)
  
• University of Benin (Nigeria)
  
• University of Cocody (Abidjan)

As stated above, the host DAUs organize the teaching on courses in core fields on a regional basis. The major difference between host and non-host DAUs is that the former teach core courses and conduct comprehensive examinations, which functions the latter does not perform. All the 8 DAUs award PhD degrees to students who will fulfill the agreed requirements.

Others (the non-DAUs): Other universities on the continent are referred to as non-DAUs. It should be noted that all universities (including the non-DAUs) are in a win-win situation. For example, capacity building takes place at both the DAUs and the non-DAUs, through avenues like:

• The participatory teaching of the core courses at the host universities.
  
• The participatory supervision of PhD theses, through PhD workshops and sourcing of supervisors from even the non-DAUs.
  
• The participatory teaching of the elective courses at the JFE.
  
• The flow of financial and other resources to all universities.
  
• The training of staff development candidates on the programme under AERC and other sponsorship.
  
• The opportunity offered to all types of candidates to audit any courses on the programme.
  

Programme Governance and Management

The AERC Board of Directors has overall responsibility over the smooth implementation of the programme. Consequently, the AERC's Programme Committee and its Sub-Committee on Training have to see to it that the programme is running efficiently.

However, the management of all academic aspects of the programme is the responsibility of the PhD Academic Board, comprising all Heads/Directors/Deans of the relevant departments in the degree-awarding universities, plus four additional experts representing the four regions, the AERC director of training and Chairpersons of the CMAP and its francophone Africa equivalent, the PTCI. The Academic Board deals with matters like:

• Approval of the common curriculam requirements for the core and elective courses.
  
• Arrangement for external examiners of the core courses as well as approval of their terms of reference.
  
• Approval each year of the menu of elective courses for the JFE and approval of instructors to teach these electives.
  
• Appointment of external examiners for the JFE.
  
• Approval of the JFE examination results before they are forwarded to DAUs for their consideration.
  
• Approval of recommendations for the development of textbooks and other instructional materials.
  
• Appointment of setters, markers and supervisors of the comprehensive examinations.
  
• Approval of the comprehensive examination results.
  
• Oversight of the doctoral scholarship scheme.
  
• The periodic review of the quality of the programme and the performance of participating departments/schools/faculties.
  

Applications for Admission to the Programme

Interested students should direct their applications to the degree-awarding universities whose addresses and other coordinates are given in the applications page.

To be eligible for AERC sponsorship, students from a region (e.g., Eastern Region) must apply to one or the other of the two degree-awarding universities in the region (i.e., to the University of Dar es Salaam or to the University of Nairobi, or to both, in this example). Normally sponsorship at universities outside one's region is not encouraged.

Students with sponsorship outside AERC resources are free to apply to any of the eight universities.