Majority-funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), IGC is directed jointly by the University of Oxford and the London School of Economics and Political Science (where it is based).

It has a global network of over 1,000 world-class researchers, led by Research Programme Directors. 15 country offices throughout Africa and South Asia bring these researchers together with senior policy makers to support long-term policy engagement in our partner countries and to generate high quality research and policy advice on key growth challenges.

The IGC research programme has four principal themes:

  • State: able and reliable government is central to poverty reduction; increasing government resources and effectiveness, while encouraging accountability and transparency, is critical.
  • Firms: strong firms form the core of economic activity; for developing economies to grow, so must the opportunities for their businesses and entrepreneurs.
  • Cities: have the potential to be either the greatest growth driver or the greatest missed opportunity for the developing world.
  • Energy: potentially transformative, yet much of the developing world remains unconnected to reliable energy access.

Three key members of the IGC research team are based at ODID:

Christopher Adam, Lead Academic for the Tanzania Country Programme

Pramila Krishnan, Lead Academic for the Ethiopian Country Programme

Christopher Woodruff, Research Programme Director for the Firms Research Programme.