The department is a lively community that is recognised internationally as one of the top centres for research and teaching in development studies.

Our courses offer excellent training for a career in international development or for advanced study, and attract students of the highest calibre from across the world.
“I had waited for 10 years before my dream to study in Oxford became a reality and the experience was truly beyond expectation”
Our students are taught to develop as critical and independent thinkers and when they leave us they are equipped with the knowledge and skills they need to bring about real change.
“My time at Oxford strengthened my critical analysis and provided me with a unique interdisciplinary grounding in history, politics and economics that has equipped me well in dealing with public policy issues and program development strategy.”
Our courses offer excellent training for a career in international development or for advanced study, and attract students of the highest calibre from across the world.
“I had waited for 10 years before my dream to study in Oxford became a reality and the experience was truly beyond expectation”
Our courses offer excellent training for a career in international development or for advanced study, and attract students of the highest calibre from across the world.
“I had waited for 10 years before my dream to study in Oxford became a reality and the experience was truly beyond expectation”
Our students are taught to develop as critical and independent thinkers and when they leave us they are equipped with the knowledge and skills they need to bring about real change.
“My time at Oxford strengthened my critical analysis and provided me with a unique interdisciplinary grounding in history, politics and economics that has equipped me well in dealing with public policy issues and program development strategy.”
Our students are taught to develop as critical and independent thinkers and when they leave us they are equipped with the knowledge and skills they need to bring about real change.
“My time at Oxford strengthened my critical analysis and provided me with a unique interdisciplinary grounding in history, politics and economics that has equipped me well in dealing with public policy issues and program development strategy.”
Nwamaka Chidera Ogbonna is a DPhil candidate at Lady Margaret Hall at the University of Oxford, where her research focuses broadly on industrialisation, innovation, and technology development in developing countries. Specifically, her research seeks to examine how local firms in Nigeria build technological learning capabilities and undertake innovative activities taking into consideration the country’s institutional framework, industrial policies, and its interaction with the global environment. This builds on her MPhil research which analysed the effectiveness of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) as tools of industrial policy in Africa.
Prior to Oxford, she worked at the Tony Elumelu Foundation, Nigeria, where she led the Monitoring and Evaluation of the $100 million Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship programme and produced the programme’s first impact report. She also worked with the partnerships team of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), New York, helping UNGC signatory companies to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). She currently works at the Oxford Technology and Management Centre for Development (TMCD) where she is the Communications Officer and a researcher.
Nwamaka served as the 2019/2020 President of the Oxford Africa Society where, among other accomplishments, she established the society’s inaugural Advisory Board. In 2017, Nwamaka was recognised by the British Council as one of the top 50 emerging global policy leaders.
She holds an MPhil in Development Studies from the University of Oxford; a Master’s in Development Management from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and a first class in Economics from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana. She also completed an executive programme on Public Policy, Design Thinking and Leadership at the University of Cambridge.
Technology, innovation, and industrialization