Change the world

30/08/2021

A university lecturer and his former students have tapped into political risk research.

Nelson Mandela University lecturer Ongama Mtimka and his former students who established the Evoke Research Primary Co-operative launched their scientific journal yesterday.

The journal will arm potential investors with the necessary information before they decide to invest, as economists and editorial experts will be part of it.

The journal will provide research for businesses and investors in the political risk industry, which is dominated by banks and foreign companies.

Evoke Research Primary Cooperative corporate affairs director Yona Siyongwana said on the back of a recent insurrection, it had become important to measure how political risk affected investment in SA.

She said through the journal, they would provide insight into SA’s political climate, which investors and businesses could use before making decisions.

Retired NMU Prof Gavin Bradshaw has been appointed as the journal’s editor.

Mtimka, the co-operative’s founder and executive chair, described the venture as one comprising a group of young emerging academics who wanted to start something that would influence investment decision-making in SA.

“If you research political risk in SA, you will find it is mainly foreign companies that are in this space,” he said.

“The economists do some of the work, as well as a range of market research companies that ventured into what they call country risk.

“There is a strong case for a product that serves the political environment, understands it and writes about it.

“We have three broad product ranges in the co-operative.

“They are research, publishing, of which the journal is a part, and advocacy.”

Bradshaw said he was excited about the journal.

“Unemployment is a topical issue from the latest statistics that have been released, with the focus on the Eastern Cape, especially the youth, including graduates, who are not exempt from the problem.

“This initiative brings to the fore that we can be architects of our own future. We can use the skills we developed in university and put them to good use creating our own businesses.”

Stellenbosch University development economics lecturer Dr Nthabiseng Moleko, who is part of the journal’s editorial team, said it was time to “make our own future”.

“One of the biggest issues I found in research was a lot of the things said about Africans are not written by Africans. We must encourage Africans to be the voice of their future.”

This article appeared in The Herald (South Africa) on 27 August 2021 written by Simtembile Mgidi mgidis@theherald.co.za

Contact information
Dr Ongama Mtimka
Lecturer
Tel: 0415044819
ongama.mtimka@mandela.ac.za