African Cities Research Consortium

What African Cities Research Consortium does

The African Cities Research Consortium (ACRC) is a non-profit academic research consortium founded in 2021 and led by The University of Manchester's Global Development Institute. It conducts action research on urban development across 12+ African cities — Kampala, Lagos, Nairobi, Harare, Lilongwe, Bukavu, Freetown, Accra, Dar es Salaam, Maiduguri, Mogadishu, and Addis Ababa — working through multidisciplinary city-level teams comprising city managers, uptake leads, politics leads, urban development leads, and community knowledge leads. The consortium's analytical framework is built on Political Settlements Analysis and a City-of-Systems approach, and it operates across eight urban development domains: housing, informal settlements, land and connectivity, structural transformation, neighbourhood and district economic development, youth and capability development, health wellbeing and nutrition, and safety and security.

ACRC's deliverables are research artifacts rather than commercial products: working papers and policy briefs published on african-cities.org, the African Cities Podcast, a monthly E-Newsletter, the curated Urban Reform Database (african-cities-database.org), and the FCDO-supported Covid Collective research platform operated jointly with the Institute of Development Studies. The consortium is funded principally by UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) development grants administered through the University of Manchester, and it does not commercialize its outputs. Distribution is free and partner-mediated, with formal research alliances spanning Slum Dwellers International, Makerere University, University of Lagos, ICLEI Africa, ODI, Dialogue on Shelter Trust, and a network of community-based NGOs across cities.

ACRC is governed as an institutional consortium — not a venture-backed, equity-financed, or publicly traded entity — with no parent company, no subsidiaries, and no traditional customer base in the commercial sense. Its beneficiaries are city governments, civil society organizations, marginalized urban communities, and the policy-research ecosystem; its commissioning funder is the UK government. A leadership transition with a new CEO was announced in January 2026, signaling an inflection point ahead of the consortium's next funding phase.

Name

African Cities Research Consortium

Legal name

African Cities Research Consortium

Website

https://african-cities.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The African Cities Research Consortium is a non-profit research consortium led by the University of Manchester that conducts action research on urban development across 12+ African cities, funded primarily by UK FCDO development grants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Manchester

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. UK FCDO Development Funding: ACRC is funded by the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). As a research consortium led by The University of Manchester, it operates as a non-profit academic initiative rather than a commercial enterprise.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

ACRC is a non-profit research consortium that conducts action research on urban development challenges in African cities, working across eight domains (housing, informal settlements, land and connectivity, structural transformation, neighbourhood economic development, youth and capability development, health wellbeing and nutrition, and safety and security). It produces comparative research outputs, an Urban Reform Database, podcasts, and policy uptake engagement with city governments and civil society partners across 12 focus cities.

Product overview

The African Cities Research Consortium is a collaborative research initiative led by The University of Manchester focused on tackling complex urban development challenges in African cities. The consortium operates across eight urban development domains (housing, informal settlements, land and connectivity, structural transformation, neighbourhood economic development, youth and capability development, health wellbeing and nutrition, and safety and security) and conducts action research in multiple African cities. The consortium's offerings include a publications repository of working papers and research reports, an urban reform database for comparative research, the African Cities Podcast for disseminating insights, an e-newsletter for community updates, and Covid Collective research examining pandemic impacts on urban communities. The consortium does not operate as a commercial product company but rather as an academic research consortium producing and sharing knowledge on urban development.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Urban Reform Database
• Publications and Working Papers
• Covid Collective Research Programme

Quantifiable outcome

• Research outputs including working papers, research briefs, policy reports, and blog posts across eight urban development domains
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Slum Dwellers International (SDI)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021ACRC partners with SDI and its national federations for data collection and policy uptake activities in informal settlements. SDI affiliates lead data collection in cities including Harare, Kampala, Lilongwe, and Nairobi as part of the Covid Collective research programme.
• Institute of Development Studies (IDS)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021The Covid Collective, of which ACRC researchers are part, is based at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS). The programme offers rapid social science research on Covid-19-related development challenges, supported by FCDO.
• The University of ManchestercoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 January 2021ACRC is led by The University of Manchester's Global Development Institute. The institute provides the primary institutional home for the consortium and its postdoctoral researchers.
• Know Your City TV - SDI's Youth CollectivecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with youth collective for data collection and community engagement activities in informal settlements.
• Makerere UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner university in Kampala leading community-led resilience research for Ggaba Market addressing flooding and waste management.
• CHASE-iminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerPartner organization leading action research on food loss and wastage in Kampala markets.
• ACTogetherminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerPartner organization addressing electricity access constraints in Kampala's informal settlements.
• Dialogue on Shelter TrustcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerLocal uptake lead for Harare, organizing workshops and engagement sessions with city officials.
• ICLEI AfricaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner conducting research on Lilongwe, providing expertise in local government sustainability.
• Overseas Development Institute (ODI)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner contributing to Lilongwe city scoping study and research analysis.
• University of LagoscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner university leading Lagos streetlighting assessment research.
• Rethinking CitiesminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerPartner leading community action research initiative on waste management in Ajegunle-Ikorodu, Lagos.
• Shantytown Empowerment Foundation (SHEF)minorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerPartner leading WASH infrastructure research in Okerube, Lagos.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Market position

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/AfricanCities_
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCWzAgzcOPMhFqqnt_i7pphQ
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/african-cities-research-consortium

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about African Cities Research Consortium