The Center for Sustained Domestic Security and Development (CESDOSED), is a research center for the study of institutions, emerging security challenges, and  more broadly fundamental developmental issues on the continent of Africa. The Center has four-pronged goals viz, the design of appropriate and sustainable institutions in Africa; understanding and dealing with contemporary and emerging security issues as well as challenges of development in the African continent; Research in critical areas of development in Africa; and Training and professional development to enhance capacity building in both the private and public sectors in organizations in Africa.

Africa’s Institutions

Designing working and effective institutions in Africa is a daunting task, and may even be considered elusive. United States President Barack H. Obama once remarked in Accra, Ghana, in 2009 during his first trip to Africa after his election in 2008, that “Africa does not need strongmen, it needs strong institutions.” With more than half a century of post-independent experience, institutional challenges still plague many African states. The question that often arises is what are these seemingly elusive “institutions” that could be a panacea to domestic political stability, liberty, security, and the overall development on the continent of Africa. The contemporary state of domestic African institutions presents a security and developmental dilema to the African people, the respective states, and global security and development. The Center (CESDOSED) researches African institutions in their uniqueness. It explores careful collaboration between traditional African societal institutions and mainstream theoretical and practical pillars of institutions building and design. Thus a critical institutional approach becomes imperative in the effort at designing sustainable institutions in Africa.

Research

The research activities of the Center is evidence and result-based. Though grand theories help in presenting a broader way of understanding a phenomenon, the Center's research focus incapsulates societal realities. As the Center's objective is to pursue a sustainable conduct and application of its research outcomes, it has found it imperative to explore fundamental societal characteristics and how such characteristics are necessary elements for sustained development.

In addition, the Center's research objective engages Africa’s role in shaping contemporary global issues. Currently, international agendas are predominantly shaped by states and people outside Africa even though the continent has massive human and other natural resources that contribute to global development. After more than five decades of independence, Africa’s strategic global relevance is still not properly delineated and lacks clear direction. As many now begin to hint on the view that Africa is on the rise, the question is how this rise is measured and analyzed? Has the continent, represented by the respective states, positioned itself strategically to be relevant in shaping international agendas in the 21st century and beyond? Where does the conversation regarding Africa’s rise begin? The center navigates this discourse through research.

Security and Development

The nexus between Security and Development is a fundamental element of Africa’s stability. Africa’s development is therefore encapsulated in the overall security of its people and the  respective African states. Whiles the nature of post-independent African states presents a challenge and makes the respective states vulnerable to instability, it is the Center’s view that Africa’s security and development are intertwined and must be achieved together. The Center explores human security as an essential piece to a sustainable security and development strategy in Africa.

Professional Development

Capacity building in both public and private sector is key to Africa’s security and development. The Center offers short-term courses to senior and mid-level public and private sector officials, educators, and other relevant section of the work force to equip them with an enhanced skill-set for effective management and leadership of their respective organizations. The Center also organizes conferences, round-tables, speaker series to discuss potential areas that may challenge or enhance Africa’s effort at development in the foreseeable future.