The central hub of RUB's academic capacity building in Sub-Saharan Africa in the field of sustainable development research and international development cooperation is the South African German Center for Development Research at the University of the Western Cape in South Africa (SA GER CDR). The SA GER CDR, one of the first and so far most successful “African Excellence Centers” of the DAAD, is a cooperation between the Institute for Development Research and Development Policy at RUB and the School of Government and the Institute for Social Development at the University of the Western Cape. The relevant programs of the specialist center include the three master programs MA in Development Management, MA in Development Studies and MA in Public Administration (including Second Degree Option) as well as the three PhD programs PhD in Development Studies, PhD in Public Policy and Administration and PhD in International Development Studies.