Africa Innovation and Industrialisation Sustainability Conference 2025 (AIIS Conference 2025)

CALL FOR PAPERS

THEME

11-12 September 2025, Africa University

Africa University, through the College of Business and Management Sciences, and Manicaland Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries, are pleased to invite submissions for their 2025 Annual Conference from 11-12 September 2025, which will explore the theme of Advancing Innovation, Industrialisation and Sustainable Development through University-Industry Collaboration. The Conference will be hosted by the College of Business and Management Sciences, Africa University, in partnership with the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries, Manicaland. The conference, aligned with Education 5.0 and Industry 4.0, aims to enhance development by strengthening university-industry collaboration (UIC) and knowledge sharing.

UICs play a central role in shaping the development trajectory. Generally, UIC is “the coming together of diverse interests and people to achieve a common purpose via interactions, information sharing, and coordinated activities” (Jassawalla and Sashittal, 1998). UICs have contributed significantly to resource and research development opportunities for universities and industry. As Murairwa (2021) states “The collaboration between a knowledge hub and a product incubator is increasingly perceived as a vehicle to enhance innovation and business incubation through knowledge and technology exchange”. Thus, UIC is a vehicle to enhance innovation through knowledge exchange and a hallmark of the knowledge economy.

Therefore, the conference offers a multidisciplinary platform to bridge the gap between theory and practice by establishing collaboration between universities and industry. Based on the co-creation and co-production of knowledge and ideas, the Conference aims to explore innovative ideas, cutting-edge research, and actionable strategies that address real industry challenges and enhance development in Africa.

Hence, we welcome multidisciplinary, thought-provoking and innovative abstracts that delve into UIC within but not limited to the following themes:

• Business systems
• Business automation and optimisation
• Systems engineering
• Business Intelligence
• Business operation environments
• Appropriate Business models
• ICT, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity in the 21st Century
• Alternative models for transport infrastructural development
• Production Pricing of products in inflationary economic environments
• Human resources development and retention
• Business ethics and corporate governance
• Stakeholder engagement and participation in the extractive sector
• Production and value chain management
• Migration, import and export management and control
• MSMEs and informal sector management
• Conservation, corporate social responsibility, and tourism management
• Human-wildlife conflict and business sustainability.
• Mining, energy, natural resource governance and management systems
• Peace-building, security, international relations and diplomacy
• Education for sustainable development
• Policy formulation, implementation and evaluation
• Public management and governance; local governance and community development
• Green governance and smart cities
• Sustainable and inclusive health systems
• Mental health and spiritual wellbeing
• Media, Communication and the cyberspace
• Gender, women empowerment, sexual and reproductive health and rights
• Intellectual property, law, human rights and the administration of justice
• Any other research areas related to the conference theme

Note

The Conference also welcomes organizations and individuals who want to present policy briefs and advocacy papers.

Submission Guidelines

Abstracts should not be more than 250 words covering the following: topic, the problem and central research question, knowledge gap, methodology, key findings and recommendations.

Important dates

• Abstract submission: 21 March 2025
• Review feedback: 31 March 2025
• Registration deadline: 20 June 2025
• Late registration: 20 July 2025
• Final paper submission: 01 August 2025
• Conference dates: 11-12 September 2025

Conference Fee and Registration

• The early registration fee will be USD 150 per participant.
• The late registration fee will be USD 200 per participant.
• Virtual attendance USD 130
• Students USD 100 (Virtual attendance USD 70)