Sixth Young Scholars Conference on Structural Change and Industrial Policy in Africa

About the conference

Industrialisation and industrial development have re-emerged on the development agenda of many African countries. Africa’s industrial resurgence, however, needs to integrate new multiple global challenges, including climate change,digitalization, and regional integration (UNIDO IDR, 2024).

The DSI/NRF South African Research Chair in Industrial Development (SARChI-ID), hosted at the College of Business and Economics (CBE), and the Young Scholars Initiative (YSI) are pleased to invite abstracts from young scholars for the Sixth Young Scholars Conference on Structural Change and Industrial Policy in Africa. We welcome papers exploring central issues around Africa’s pathway towards achieving sustainable industrialisation and structural transformation.

The conference will be held on 9-10 JUNE 2026. Senior international scholars will act as discussants at the conference to provide feedback on presented papers. The conference will be held in a hybrid format, with the option ofcongregated physical attendance at selected satellite venues, where attendants can participate in the conference as agroup in a single venue. Attendance is free and open to the public.

Training

The 2026 conference will also entail a separate training workshop on 8 JUNE 2026 focusing on research methods for industrialisation research.

Applications

Deadline for submissions: 17 April 2026

Presentation at the conference is open to postgraduate students, postdoctoral research fellows and early career researchers.

Presenters whose abstract submissions are successful will be required to submit presentations by 15 May 2026. The submission of full papers at this time is also encouraged to allow discussants an opportunity to engage more closely with the work.

Submissions are invited around the broad themes of structural change, industrial development and industrial policy in Africa. Studies with a sub-national, national or supra- national focus are all welcome.

Topics could include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Structural change in Africa
• Industrial development, industrialisation, sector studies, and deindustrialisation in Africa
• The political economy of industrial policy in Africa
• Trade and industrial development in Africa
• The innovation, technological upgrading, and the 4IR in Africa
• Green industrialisation and green industrial policy in Africa
• Gendered aspects of industrial development and policy in Africa
• Labour market or distributional aspects of industrial development in Africa

Please click HERE to submit your abstract and/or an application to attend the training course:

For consideration to present at the conference, extended abstracts of 600-800 words are required. The deadline for all submissions is 17 April 2026. For queries or technical assistance, please contact sarchiid@uj.ac.za.

Note: Awards

We will be recognising outstanding full papers with awards for the Best Paper ($750) and Runner-up Best Paper($250). To be eligible, submissions need to be accepted and presented at the conference, and full papers need to besubmitted to sarchiid@uj.ac.za by 15 May 2026. These awards are at the discretion of the selection committee and decisions of the selection committee are final.

Important dates

Abstract submission deadline | 17 April 2026

Training course application | 17 April 2026

Conference registration opens | 1 May 2026

Submission of presentations | 15 May 2026

Full paper submission for Best Paper Award | 15 May 2026

Training | 8 June 2026

Conference | 9-10 June 2026

More information on registration for the Satellite events in due course.