CIGI launches African resource portal

29 Nov 2010

WATERLOO: The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) late last week announced the launch of the Africa Portal, an online knowledge resource offering researchers and opinion leaders a forum to share their insights on Africa and publish their work on areas of concern to policymakers and the public.

Filling the research, info gap

The Africa Portal aims to fill the gap in accessibility to research and information on policy issues critical to the continent. The project is a collaborative undertaking between CIGI, Makerere University in Kampala, and the South African Institute of International Affairs in Johannesburg.

The Africa Portal offers open access to a suite of features including an online library collection, issues section, experts directory, and international events calendar - all aimed to equip users with research and information on Africa's current policy issues. The Africa Portal's online library collection holds over 2,500 books, journals and digital documents. The entire online repository is open access and available for free, full-text download. A portion of the digital documents housed in the library have been digitised for the first time as an undertaking of the Africa Portal project.

Part of the Africa Initiative

The Africa Portal is part of CIGI's larger Africa Initiative, a multi-year, donor-supported program that aims to contribute to deepening Africa's capacity and knowledge in five thematic areas: conflict resolution, energy, food security, health, and migration, with special attention to the cross-cutting issue of climate change.

"The Africa Portal is a landmark addition to Africa's knowledge repository that will contribute to the making of informed decisions by policymakers," comments Dr. Nelson K. Sewankambo, director of the Africa Initiative and principal of Makerere University's College of Health Sciences. "Important research and analysis from across the continent that was previously inaccessible is now open and readily available to all Africans and other interested users."

View the Africa Portal at www.africaportal.org.