Development of competitive productive capacities

The productive sector straddles both public and private enterprises. The centre therefore actively seeks to engage in government policy, development agency strategy and private sector engagement research.  Such research will support the establishment of strong institutional frameworks to drive competitiveness throughout the region.
Other areas of this research seek to strengthen the drive for investments aimed at increasing capital stock and levels of capacity utilisation, employment creation, export orientation, and product diversification. It also seeks to support small and medium sized enterprises as avenues for contributing to economic and social development of the region.

1. Under this theme, the research will seek to review the regulatory constraints which inhibit competitiveness in the region by for example imposing costs and inflexibilities that frustrate enterprises. Some areas of focus could be licensing, taxation, investment, corruption, principle agent relationships, ownership, contract enforcement and related transactions costs.  
2. It will also seek to review the creation of strong public private partnerships and examining the experiences and lessons learned in developing strong public private partnerships in other parts of the world.
3. Analysis of extent to which physical infrastructure such as power, water and sewerage, roads, telecommunications, act as constrains to the growth and development of private enterprises.
4. The nature of the financial sector including capital markets, derivatives, securities, and  inter-bank markets, and the extent of availability of stable sources of investment funding;
5. Study the development and support for entrepreneurship, and factors leading to their success.
6. Primary factors attracting foreign direct investment and concrete steps to be taken by government and business to increase foreign direct investment flows.

Regional Integration

The East African region has continued to forge ahead with efforts to achieve the dream of regional integration. These efforts are clearly a reflection of the reality that as an integrated economic block all the countries stand to benefit. This drive however would benefit tremendously if supported by research. This will remove the tendency to proceed in an ad hoc manner, often defined in terms of, duplicity as well as costly systems, for example, the practice of the different community countries belonging to two or more separate regional organisations. As a driver for economic growth and development, regional integration, would require a clear process of mapping and steering the process of integration. 

At the moment there is need to support Organisational capacity and economic structures which are still largely weak and unable to fully support  regional trade development and other bilateral or multi-lateral links as part of a wider strategy to promote equitable growth.

Through its research, the institute will also be able to contribute to the drive to increase regional competitiveness, reduce transaction costs, support the creation of economies of scale, encourage foreign investment and facilitate macroeconomic policy coordination.

The institute hopes to support the creation of knowledge about the regional integration process generally.  By specifically developing research in the following areas

1. Current intra-regional trade and investment and trade flows
2.  Employment, public finance and economic growth
3. Challenges and constraints to intra-regional economic activity in each member country and the type of approaches to overcome national level constraints.
4. Ways to encourage and develop public private partnerships and broader societal involvement of all stakeholders in the integration process including creation and sustaining of regional solidarity and consensus

Good Governance and accountability

SISC will seek to support good governance throughout the East Africa region.  The research will focus on policies to overcome the causes of low attractiveness of the region as an investment destination, capital flight, brain drain, destruction of physical infrastructure, displacement of persons, and the general, malaise of civil society and institutions.

 To this end, the institute will focus on the following issues:

1. Issues of democracy and democratisation such as resistance to democratisation, and failure to develop enduring democratic institutions and infrastructure.
2. Research into the factors that lead to poor governance such as nepotism, corruption, poor ethical standards  as well as those which support the realisation of peace, social justice and political tolerance
3. Research into the factors which enhance the state’s capacity to act as an arbitrator and facilitator of peace, stability and security;
4. Support for the social non-governmental organisations and community development institutions that encourage local initiative and participatory activities to strengthen the social enterprise sector.

Entrepreneurship and private sector development

Under this general theme, SISC will work to increasing understanding of the interaction among stakeholders in order to improve the opportunities for entrepreneurs and their chances for success.  The institute will also focus on those infrastructural issues which are important for the entrepreneur and the private sector generally such as banking and financial services. Under this theme the centre will focus on;

1.  Review of accessibility of information, the growth of knowledge and innovation for entrepreneurship.
2. Improvement of competitive factors such as financial, economic, infrastructural, technological, and environmental and their role in success.

Review barriers to the flow of goods, services and productive resources, across national borders for example administrative and quantitative obstacles to both imports and exports.