What research options does CAI offer?

Consultancy Africa Intelligence (CAI) offers both standard publications, which are released fortnightly and monthly, as well as tailored research. Our standard publications cover a wide range of topics pertinent to Africa, ranging from political and economic movements, to conflict and terrorism, and issues such as gender and HIV & AIDS. In addition, CAI also publishes a variety of complimentary publications. Building on this in-depth knowledge of the continent, CAI offers clients tailored research to suit particular needs. To discuss how we can assist you, please click here.

How do you source your information?

CAI utilises a mixture of open source information and ideas gathered from our wide-network across Africa. Through this combination, we are able to better verify open source information gathered from audio, visual and other media, and supplement these channels. In addition, CAI’s comparative advantage is to turn research into intelligence and assist clients with filtering masses of data into understandable, value-added analysis. A PDF document listing the sources we make use of is available at the bottom of this page.

How accurate is your information?

We believe that the reports CAI publish are of the highest quality. Through bringing together a number of top people in various fields, information gathered goes through a rigorous process of verification based on background knowledge of particular subject matters. While it is our policy not to use information, which cannot be properly verified (e.g. via various independent sources), there are exceptions such as information gathered through networks that we may consider to be of very high-value. This said, CAI is 100% committed to ensuring that no confidentiality is broken and thus does not publish information that may be considered sensitive.

How often does CAI review its information?

Due to the amount of information generated over a reports period (i.e. fortnightly/monthly), the team members responsible for research take extreme care in ensuring that the intelligence presented is as up-to-date as possible. Our researchers review all written material at the end of each publication cycle to ensure that in Africa’s rapidly changing environment, progressions and changes have not been overlooked. In addition, the editorial team responsible for the final compilation of reports checks and cross-checks all information. Data presented within the reports is updated as soon as new statistics are made available, and is generally gathered from one central source, such as the International Monetary Fund. This practice assists in avoiding conflicting data.

What background does the CAI team have?

At CAI, we believe that with the rapidly changing nature of the African continent, across a wide range of fields and interests, it is deserving of a team able to complement that pace and diversity. With this in mind, we espouse the idea that Africa’s dynamics cannot be properly understood by a team constrained by alike experiences, backgrounds or geography.

In view of this, our firm maintains representation and associated contacts in various African and non-African countries, ensuring a mix of in-market involvement and understandings of the mindset of the international market. The team members hold advanced university and doctoral degrees and have widely varying interests, including International Relations, African Politics, Strategic Studies, Political-Economics, Public Administration, Journalism, Public Health, Gender Studies, Sociology and Psychology.

FAQ: Subscriptions & Security

How can I subscribe to CAI products?

In an ever globalising world, the need for online information continues to steadily increase. For this reason, the CAI website is built to be fully e-commerce enabled, with the ability to subscribe online securely. We run regular checks to ensure a smooth experience, but with any IT system, issues do occur. If for any reason you are unable to subscribe online, please do not hesitate to contact us at officesa@consultancyafrica.com and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

How can I be sure that my online transaction is secure?

CAI uses a highly reputable, global 3^rd party provider – 2Checkout.com – to ensure all transactions are fully protected and digitally secure. 2Checkout.com is certified to meet the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS), and is verified by both Visa and Mastercard SecureCode.

Can I purchase reports any other way than via the internet?

Yes. As we try and accommodate clients as much as possible, direct payment into our bank account is possible. Unfortunately we are only able to accept up-front payment for the full contract period due to South African banking logistics. If you would like to purchase any report/s through this channel, please email us at officesa@consultancyafrica.com stating: name, organisation, designation, country, report/s required and number of months you would like to sign-up for. We will endeavour to get back to you as soon as possible

Are there restrictions on the distribution of your reports/how do I sign-up as an institution?

CAI follows the general rule of distribution – all our reports are copyrighted, and distributed with the understanding that excessive emailing is prohibited. As such, if your company/organisation wishes to distribute any of the CAI products to more than 10 people internally, kindly email officesa@consultancyafrica.com for institutional subscription rates. We will get back to you as soon as possible with the various costing options.

Does my purchase include VAT?

Consultancy Africa Intelligence (Pty) Ltd is a privately held company, registered in the Republic of South Africa. Due to recent company legislation changes, CAI is presently not registered as a VAT vendor in South Africa. When the need arises, CAI will inform existing and new clients of any changes in this regard.

Do you offer discounts/specials?

Yes we do. If you take out either a 3-month or annual subscription, we will automatically deduct 10% or 25% from the full-price respectively. In addition, if you purchase an institutional account, the fee ratio is heavily discounted in relation to per capita access fees.

Can I cancel my subscription?

Yes, we are able to accommodate cancellation requests. If you would like to cancel your subscription, please email officeusa@consultancyafrica.com.

Will I be able to get a refund on future reports if I have taken out an extended subscription?

Due to taxation logistics, it is not possible to refund clients if advance payment of fees has been made. However, if your purchase was made through the 2checkout e-commerce partner, we will submit a request on your behalf to cancel payments on your credit card. CAI will endeavour to cancel the payments as soon as possible, but this process may take between 1 – 2 months as payments made have already been processed.

FAQ: Other

Can I let you know if I pick up a discrepancy?

Sure – we always welcome comments on the content, be it to point out an error or to verify something. To do so, please visit our ‘contact us’ page.

If you have any questions that are not answered here, please feel free to e-mail us at officesa@consultancyafrica.com, and we will get back to you as soon as possible.