The distinguished Professor Lavagnon Ika from the Telfer Graduate School of Management at the University of Ottawa visited the GSTM recently. He is currently a Carnegie Fellow and visiting professor at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) of the University of Pretoria.

Prof Ika is one of the recent recipients of the prestigious 2022 International Project Management Association (IPMA) Research Award. He shares this award with Peter E. D. Love (PhD) from Australia and Jeffrey K. Pinto (PhD) from the United States for their research project “Major Project Behaviour Theory and Practice: The Case of Social Infrastructure”. Prof Ika is also an Associate Editor of the International Journal of Project Management, and a member of the Academic Boards of the international project management associations PMI and IPMA.

During his visit to the GSTM there was a lively debate as to the opportunities and challenges of increasing the visibility of research emanating from managing and leading projects in Africa.