The African Nexus: E-Resources Advocacy as a Catalyst for Pan-Library Collaboration

Abstract

Rsif offers a unique and historic opportunity for African countries to train new doctoral students in high-quality PhD programmes in applied sciences, presenting a practitioner-led model for building strategic, sustainable partnerships across African libraries and research organizations. Documenting a multi-country advocacy journey from the ICIPE Library in Nairobi to institutions in Uganda, Ghana, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Rwanda, and Tanzania, this demonstrates how e-resource advocacy is a powerful tool for fostering collaboration, not a goal, but essential infrastructure. Through a five-phase framework (Identify & Listen, Align & Propose, Demonstrate & Train, Co-Create & Institutionalize, and Connect the Network), the initiative has moved beyond one-off training to embed locally owned solutions, such as shared consortia, faculty-led training modules, and digital literacy frameworks. The poster highlights icipe's role as convener, facilitator, and knowledge broker, bridging research institutes and university libraries. Key insights reveal that impactful advocacy is context specific, partnerships are multidirectional, and the ultimate outcome is a resilient, peer supported network. Attendees will gain actionable strategies for turning advocacy into long-term collaboration, with a call to join a growing Pan-African community of practice for e-resource advancement

Keywords: Rsif (Regional Scholarship and Innovation Fund), E-resource advocacy , Pan-African collaboration , Academic consortia, Capacity building