Purpose The purpose of this paper is to engage African subject matter experts to assist with a needs assessment of international capacity building for developing countries in Africa, to establish a prioritized list of capacity building keywords substantiated by a current literature review. Design/methodology/approach A pragmatic mixed-method research design was used which involved conducting literature reviews and applying a modified Delphi technique to determine future research needs. The credibility of these results was strengthened by selecting a Delphi subject matter expert panel from African countries including Benin, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Cameroon, Congo, Burkina Faso, Eritrea, Algeria and Nigeria. Non-parametric statistical techniques were used to objectively analyze the qualitative data and prioritize the findings. Findings The results clearly identified seven literature keywords which could improve future African capacity building research (in order of highest importance first): Trade Union (regional economic integration), Governance, FDI, Emigration, Education, Economic (small business stimulation), and Brain Gain. Additional keywords surfaced in the literature related to these ones, namely healthcare and brain drain (emigrating academics and scholars). Research limitations/implications The results of this study should generalize to government and capacity building policy administrators in Africa as well as to other researchers and practitioners in this field. The use of a novel modified Delphi technique should also be of interest to other researchers. Originality/value The modified Delphi technique commenced with a knowledge sharing conference where pre-selected subject matter experts collaborated to define the initial scope of questions. Another novel aspect of the customized Delphi technique was that the subject matter experts were required to conduct a literature review to substantiate their responses to questions.
