Prioritising African capacity building research needs using nearest neighbour analysis

We developed a visual research map to stimulate African capacity building studies by interviewing subject matter experts, reviewing the contemporary literature and then conducting non-parametric statistical analysis. First we collected data during a brain storming session held at a three-day conference designed for this study. The participants were subject matter expert practitioners who emigrated from Benin, Uganda, Malawi, Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Cameroon, Congo, Burkina Faso, Eritrea, Algeria, and Nigeria. The nominal group technique was applied to develop research questions which the practitioners felt were not answered in the contemporary literature. We statistically analysed the relationships between the research questions and the empirical literature using a nearest neighbour network analysis to develop a visual research map. We then revisited the literature in more detail using the visual research agenda map to develop specific recommendations for scholars to close the gap in African capacity building practices. This paper should generalise to anyone performing capacity building research in Africa by giving them a prioritised visual research agenda with a preliminary literature review.