CODESRIA

Dakar, 11 August 2026 – The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) is pleased to announce the appointment of Prof. Zubairu Wai as its eighth Executive Secretary. He succeeds Dr. Godwin Murunga, whose term as the Council’s seventh Executive Secretary comes to an end.

Prof. Wai is a Sierra Leonean political scientist. He holds an Honours BA in History from the University of Sierra Leone, an MA in International Relations from the International University of Japan (2004), and a PhD in Political Science from York University, Canada (2010). He specialises in international relations and comparative politics with a focus on Africa. An Associate Professor of Political Science and Global Development Studies at the University of Toronto Scarborough, Canada, his scholarship engages the politics of knowledge production and the epistemological foundations of International Relations, Development Studies, Conflict and Security Studies, and African Studies. His work examines how the intersections of power and coloniality shape the discourses and political economy of knowledge, violence, conflict, development, and state formation in the Global South, with particular focus on Africa.

Prof. Wai is a well-known member of the CODESRIA intellectual community, having participated in the Council’s Institutes and contributed to the Council’s publications, including the CODESRIA Bulletin. His decolonial and pan-African scholarship resonates strongly with CODESRIA’s mission to advance and lead independent social science and humanities research on the continent, as is evident in the keynote address he delivered at the launch of the Council’s African Fellowships for Research in Indigenous and Alternative Knowledges (AFRIAK) programme in Dakar in November 2024, titled “Indigenous African Knowledge and the Challenge of Epistemic Translation”.

CODESRIA’s Executive Committee expresses its appreciation to the Selection Committee for its commitment and hard work in the rigorous, competitive and pan African search and selection process, which concluded with his appointment at the Executive Committee’s 105th Meeting held in Cotonou, Benin. In appointing him, the Executive Committee considered Prof. Wai eminently qualified for the office, citing his distinguished record of scholarship, his intellectual leadership on questions central to CODESRIA’s mission, and his clear vision for the Council’s future.  Speaking on behalf of the CODESRIA Executive Committee, the President specifically emphasized that “the new ES enters the Council with the backing of a robust record in scientific leadership and focus on Africa, a thorough knowledge of and historical commitment to the Council, a keen awareness of the legacy he is inheriting, and a dynamic vision which we are confident he shall ably fulfil for the posterity of CODESRIA.” The new ES is expected to assume office in November 2026.

This marks the seventh leadership transition CODESRIA has successfully concluded in its more than five decades of existence. In accepting this appointment, Prof. Wai acknowledged that “CODESRIA has long been the intellectual conscience of Africa, nurturing generations of scholars committed to understanding and transforming the continent on its own terms. To be entrusted with the role of Executive Secretary is both an immense honour and a profound responsibility.”

Over successive tenures, the Council has extended the frontiers of social research across Africa – from higher education and academic freedom to democratic governance and development – including major and transformative work on the politics of development spanning structural adjustment to the land and agrarian questions and indigenous knowledge. All this has been achieved while also strengthening and revitalising its own governance and internal controls and charting the Council’s strategic direction. Prof. Wai will work with the Council’s Executive and Scientific Committees to build on this legacy and to consolidate CODESRIA’s agenda-setting role in the advancement of the social sciences and humanities in Africa.

It is the Council’s expectation that he will bring his considerable gifts to the service of the organisation and ensure that CODESRIA continues to grow from strength to strength.

Signed,

CODESRIA President.