The RMIT Business & Law Centre African Engagement is a visionary initiative dedicated to fostering impactful engagement and dynamic partnerships between RMIT University, African communities in Victoria, and institutions across the African continent. Recognising the rising global significance of Africa - economically, culturally, and demographically - this multidisciplinary hub will serve as a catalyst for knowledge exchange, community connection, and social innovation.
The Centre’s mission is to bridge knowledge and engagement gaps by amplifying African voices, addressing underrepresentation in academia, and promoting a deeper, more nuanced understanding of African societies. It aims to empower African Australian communities through research, education, advocacy, and collaboration, while fostering mutually beneficial relationships with African universities, industries, and governments.
The RMIT Business & Law Centre African Engagement is not only a space of connection and learning, but also a platform for impactful engagement, shared growth, and a more equitable, informed global future.
Professor Sefa Awaworyi Churchill is an applied economist whose research and leadership advances the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. His scholarship is inter-disciplinary and focuses on development economics, energy and environmental economics, health economics and behavioural economics.
Sefa’s work has shaped international policy conversations and guided actionable change for marginalised communities, and he remains committed to addressing pressing social and economic challenges. He actively collaborates with academic, government, and international organisations including the United Nations, the Australian Government, Indian Government and Asian Development Bank.
Sefa regularly contributes as a visiting scholar both within Australia and internationally, most recently as a Resident Fellow/Scholar at the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics. As an award-winning educator, Sefa brings a capacity-building ethos to his teaching and mentoring, supporting the next generation of researchers and thought leaders across diverse backgrounds. Sefa welcomes collaboration with researchers, policy makers and community leaders committed to advancing social and economic outcomes for African and diaspora populations.
Professor Victor Gekara is a highly regarded academic in the Department of Supply Chain and Logistics Management, College of Business and Law, at RMIT University. He holds a PhD in International Political Economy from the School of Social Sciences at Cardiff University, UK, and is a Nippon Foundation Fellow, having undertaken studies through the International Nippon Foundation Fellowship.
Professor Gekara is an internationally recognised scholar who has conducted extensive research and published widely on industrial transformations and the future of work. His recent work focuses on critical issues surrounding organisational technology transitions and their implications for work and employment.
As a founding Co-Director of the Centre for African Engagement, Professor Gekara leverages his deep expertise and experience from sustained engagement with African communities in Australia, particularly in Victoria, as well as with industry and academic partners across Africa. Originally from Kenya, he began his career in East Africa – working in Kenya and Tanzania – and has cultivated a strong and enduring network across government, community, academia, and industry in the region. This network continues to inform and enrich his research, teaching, and engagement activities.
We warmly welcome community organisations to connect and collaborate with us.
Support transformative education experiences for our Victorian African community.
RMIT Business & Law Centre for African Engagement: Email: cae@rmit.edu.au
Co-Director: Professor Sefa Awaworyi Churchill
Email: sefa.awaworyichurchill@rmit.edu.au
Phone: +61 3 9925 2013
Co-Director: Professor Victor Gekara
Email: victor.gekara@rmit.edu.au
Phone: +61 3 9925 5550
RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business - Artwork 'Sentient' by Hollie Johnson, Gunaikurnai and Monero Ngarigo.
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