8th Biennial Conference of the Africa Academy of Management (AFAM)

Summary of the event

An increasingly complex world characterised by intractable problems with implications for quality of life and ecological sustainability have been labelled societal grand challenges. In an African context, these challenges include eradication of poverty, digital transformation, ecological sustainability, entrepreneurial initiatives, and health promotion among others. The ill-defined nature of these grand challenges not only require interdisciplinary collaborations but also a mix of methodological approaches to understand these challenges. The conference provided a platform for multiple stakeholders to engage in robust discussions across disciplinary boundaries, reflect on contextualised pedagogical approaches to teaching and learning, and wrestle with how to bridge the academic-practitioner divide to contextualise solutions to Africa’s grand challenges.

Professors Barrett, Oborn, and Liyala presented on “Climate riskwork: digital technologies and the scaling of farmer networks in carbon markets”, a CDI-funded research collaboration exploring how climate riskwork as organisational and sociotechnical work is involved in identifying, mitigating and accounting for climate-related risks. Professor Barrett also joined the post-doctoral workshop as a discussant on the topic of “Fintech, financial inclusion and open strategy: what can we learn from Africa to tackle grand challenges?”​

After the AFAM conference, Professors Barrett and Oborn joined NetPROS 2026 at the Business History Lab at Africa Business School – University Mohammed VI Polytechnic. NetPROS is an Afria-wide practice and process network for practice-based empirical research. This year the focus for NetPROS included reflecting on theorising modes of engagement with African contexts, networking and sharing work-in-progress, and planning the next phase focusing on capacity building and research.