South Africa’s National Research Foundation (NRF), in partnership with Makerere University, is hosting the 2025 O.R. Tambo Africa Research Chairs Initiative (ORTARChI) gathering from 27–31 2025 October in Kampala, Uganda. The event will review the initiative’s impact and explore strategies to expand Research Chairs across Africa, marking the official launch of the ORTARChI Research Chair at Makerere University.
ORTARChI is a collaborative funding programme led by the NRF alongside South Africa’s Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI), the Oliver & Adelaide Tambo Foundation (OATF), and Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC). The 2025 theme, Advancing Africa’s Future-Ready Generation: Leveraging science, collaboration and research partnerships for self-sustainability and aligned growth, reflects the vision of anti-apartheid leader Oliver Tambo, who championed education, science and pan-African collaboration as tools for empowerment and self-reliance.
Launched in 2018, ORTARChI strengthens research and innovation capacity across Africa, supporting institutional development, postgraduate training and high-impact research aligned with the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and STISA-2024. The programme currently supports 10 Research Chairs in seven countries; Botswana, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Uganda to address critical challenges including climate change, public health and food security. Uganda’s Research Chair, led by David Bisagaya Meya and focusing on infectious and neurological diseases, will be inaugurated during the gathering.
Modelled on South Africa’s SARChI programme, ORTARChI builds a framework for continental collaboration, connecting funders, host institutions, researchers and policymakers to deepen research excellence and guide the next phase of Africa’s scientific and innovation agenda.
