UCT's first graduate in its Collaborative PhD Programme (CPP) in Economics is Sierra Leone-born Ibrahim Kamara.

The CCP is offered in conjunction with other universities in sub-Saharan Africa, and is funded by the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC).

Kamara has a BSc and an honours in economics from the University of Sierra Leone, an MSc from Botswana University as well as a postgraduate diploma from the Pan-African Institute for Development in Zambia.

Having also worked as an economist in several African countries, and often for government ministries, Kamara was the perfect candidate for the CPP at UCT.

Kamara's thesis was titled Public Infrastructure and Economic Growth in sub-Saharan Africa. "Good governance is key to any growth-enhancing investment in infrastructure," he says of his findings.

The main policy recommendation of his thesis is that national and international development partners for SSA continue to invest in public infrastructure, but investors have to be mindful of countries\' respective governance regimes.

Among his other core findings were that that infrastructure does indeed carry strong positive growth impact in sub-Saharan Africa.