African Development: from Above and Below

Our doctoral student Roger McCoy went on an adventure! Roger was invited to present findings of his research conducted at LIGS University and he went all the way to Kenya to do so. Read more about his adventure below.

I was privileged to be invited to present my LIGS research findings at a recent conference in Nairobi, Kenya at sessions from June 27 – 30th, 2018.  It was sponsored by Kenya Scholars & Studies Association (KESSA), 8th Annual Interdisciplinary Conference (AISA), Center for Democracy, Research, and Development (CEDRED) and conducted at the Multimedia University of Kenya. I was one of over 300 participants from 35 countries attending. 

My paper, Social Franchising and its Impact on Africa, was a seminar paper for my International Business Class for my Management PhD. An abridged version of the paper was published in the June 2018 Franchising USA periodical and introduced my participation in the Conference. The full paper was published as part of a peer-reviewed conference journal, Perspectives on Education Sector in Africa.

Social Franchising is the use of the commercial franchise model to deal with social needs of under-developed countries. Rather than making a profit, the goal of most commercial franchises, the social franchise goal is social good. The model is a method to provide needed services while reducing the need for aid from donors. In the best situations, the social franchising model is self-sustaining, allowing the reduction or discontinuance of aid from third parties.

All participants at the conference were academics, most professors with PhDs.  There were many exciting ideas about meeting the many challenges in Africa. Many interesting discussions occurred during the sessions. 

Following the conference, I participated in a three-day Safari to the Maasai Mara game reserve, where I was able to observe and photograph hundreds of animals in the wild and sleep two nights in a tent. This was a fitting end to an overall exciting. Experience in Africa.

Author: Roger McCoy

You can read the findings of Roger McCoy's research HERE.