ECR

Dr. Adetoun Alaba Akitoye is a Lecturer at the Department of Chemistry, University of Lagos. Her research area focuses on Food Security, specializing in smart, biodegradable food packaging and sensor-integrated technologies for reducing postharvest losses. She holds a PhD from the University of Lagos and has published impactful works in several high-profile journals. She has been a recipient of several competitive scholarships and fellowships, and has attracted grants from World Connect, USA and Lagos State Research and Innovation Council, Nigeria. She has also been blessed with several awards, including the Best Overall PhD Thesis (University of Lagos, 2025), IUPAC Women in Chemistry Recognition (2025), and TechWomen Fellowship, USA (2022). She currently serves as Vice Chair, National Roots and Tree Crops Standards Committee of the Standard Organization of Nigeria, and leads several waste valorization and youth-focused agri-tech innovation projects. She is currently one of the ARUA Mastercard Fellows at CoE-SFS, University of Pretoria, South Africa.

Dr. Kgomotso Jackson Phillip Sebola-Samanyanga’s is an academic and planning practitioner with expertise spanning urban and rural contexts, informed by experience in the private sector, public institutions, and academia. He holds a Master’s degree in Town and Regional Planning, a Doctor of Philosophy in Development Studies. His scholarly work critically interrogates colonial planning legacies and examines the interplay between statutory and traditional governance systems in advancing transformative rural development, reimagining land and (s)place as lived, spiritual, and political constructs. Dr Sebola-Samanyanga’s current work focuses on (S)place, Identity, and Apartheid Amnesia.

Dr. Alemayehu Erkihun Engida is an Associate Professor of History at Wollo University-Ethiopia. He earned his PhD in History from Bahir Dar University in 2020 and done PhD Dissertation on the Sudan-Ethiopia border issue. His research and publication focus on border dispute and the lived experiences of borderland communities in Africa. He has published extensively in internationally peer-reviewed journals. His current research interest relies on the intersection of climate/resources driven conflicts, state fragility in the Horn of Africa, and uncertainties in the Ethio-Eritrean Relations. He is currently an ARUA Fellow at the Institute for Peace and Security Studies, Addis Ababa University

Dr. Kundani Makakavhule is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Town and Regional Planning at the University of Pretoria. She holds a PhD in Town and Regional Planning and is currently completing a Master’s in Human Rights Law in the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, at the same institution. Her research focuses on public space and waste management, while her industry practice engages spatial transformation and multi-level governance. She is a recipient of Erasmus+ Teaching Mobility grant, the National Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences PhD Scholarship. She serves as Principal Investigator for the Spatial Methods for Urban Sustainability partnership between the University of Pretoria and Technische Universität Berlin.

Dr. Annif’ Akem Fiennasah is a development economist currently completing a six month  research Internship with UN Women’s East and Southern Africa Regional Office. Akem holds a PhD in Development Economics from the University of Dschang and an MSc in Applied Economics from the University of Yaoundé II in collaboration with Université de Rennes 1. Her research focuses on gender inequalities and women economic empowerment. Akem has published in peer-reviewed journals such as the Review of Development Economics and presented at internatinaol conferences such as the center for the study of African Economies. Her ongoing work supports evidence generation on women’s economic empowerment.

Dr. Belinda Chepchumba Rop is an academician and researcher based at the University of Dar es Salaam, School of Law, where she currently serves as the Head of the Department of Public Law. She holds a PhD in Law, an LLM in Corporate and Commercial Law, and an LLB from the University of Dar es Salaam, School of Law. Dr. Chepchumba is an Advocate, Notary Public, and Commissioner for Oaths in the High Court of Tanzania and subordinate courts. She specializes in Refugee and Migration Law, International Human Rights Law, Citizenship Law, and Gender and the Law. Her commitment to social justice is reflected in her pro bono work supporting vulnerable populations and her extensive publications on legal frameworks governing human rights and migration issues.

Dr. Casiana Blasius Lwiwa is a Lecturer at MUCE, University of Dar es Salaam, specializing in Solar Thermal Energy, Concentrating Solar for Cooking and Heat Storage for clean cooking. She holds a PhD in Process & Power Engineering from NTNU, Norway, and MSc and BSc (Education) from the University of Dar es Salaam. She has published six papers, serves as a reviewer for Solar Energy (Elsevier), and previously received the NTNU–NORAD PhD scholarship and an “Innovator of the Year” award for her clean-cooking heat storage project. Her ongoing work focuses on affordable heat-storage materials for clean cooking.

Dr. Cosmas Raymond Mutugi Kiruki is a lecturer at the Department of Electrical and Information Engineering at the University of Nairobi. He graduated with a BSc. (First-Class Honours) and MSc. in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Nairobi in 2014 and 2017, respectively. He obtained a PhD in Electrical and Space Engineering from Kyushu Institute of Technology, Japan in 2021. His research interests are in Electronics, Embedded Systems, Space Engineering, and Power & Energy Systems. He has led and worked in several research projects including those funded by the Kenya Space Agency (KSA), Kenya Education Network (KENET), and African Engineering and Technology Network (Afretec). He is currently an ARUA Early Career Researcher at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. He is based at the Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies (CRSES) under the directorship of Prof. Cristina Trois. Dr. Kiruki also currently serves as the Treasurer of the IEEE Kenya Section.

Dr. Cynthia Mwau is a Lecturer in the department of Mathematics and Actuarial Science at Kisii University and a part-time lecturer in the department of Mathematics at the University of Nairobi. She holds a PhD and MSc in Actuarial Science from the University of Nairobi and a BSc in Actuarial Science from the University of Eldoret. Her research focuses on actuarial modelling, financial risk analytics, climate resilience and AI-driven development solutions. She has received grants supporting digital finance, climate-smart agriculture and education technology. She currently a lead PI in two projects on AI for education and AI for agriculture.

Dr. Darlington Tshuma, Ph.D. is a Researcher at the Istituto Affari Internazionali’s (IAI) Mediterranean, Middle East and Africa Programme in Rome, Italy. Previously, he served as Advisor (on secondment by the World Food Programme) to the UN Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser on Africa at the United Nations Secretariat in New York (2024–2025). He is also an ARUA–Carnegie New York / Mastercard Foundation Early Career Research Fellow (ECR), hosted by the Institute for Peace and Security Studies (IPSS) at Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia, and previously held a postdoctoral fellowship at the Thabo Mbeki African School of Public and International Affairs in South Africa. He holds a Ph.D. from the Durban University of Technology in South Africa. His work spans various aspects of governance in Africa including colonial encounters, human rights, democracy, gender, human security, African development, African nationalism, leadership, and contemporary African politics. Some of his work has been featured in several prominent media outlets, including the UN’s Africa Renewal, South Africa’s Mail and Guardian and Daily Maverick, Italy’s Affari Internazionali (International Affairs), the Huffington Post and The Conversation Africa (TCA).