African think-tanks: practical solutions to practical problems

Beyond academia?

In the past, many centres of African research were based in universities outside Africa. They made some contribution to economic discourse but a great deal of research focused on historical study. This is entirely justified but should not replace the type of centres dedicated to practical economic debate that have long existed in other parts of the world.

However, the new generation of African think-tanks could make use of this academic expertise, both internationally and within the continent, in their efforts to improve both the quality and quantity of economic research and debate.

Amoako, who is also former executive secretary of the ECA, commented: “Whereas academic centres focus on contributing to the body of knowledge, think-tanks not only contribute to the body of knowledge, but also take from the body of knowledge to propose real solutions to busy policymakers.

“Besides, many think-tanks also convene real people with the power and influence to make ideas happen. At ACET we take it further yet by advising governments through the implementation phase including strengthening their institutional capacities, as a ‘think and do tank’. Academic institutions are simply not designed for that kind of work, but that’s the kind of gap that governments in the region have been asking to fill.”

It is not just the economic growth that has been achieved to date that has driven the creation of new organisations dedicated to examining the continent’s future, but the prospect of much more growth to come.

The improved security situation in many former war-torn countries, improved governance and increased investment in much-needed infrastructure is persuading investors that there is money to be made on the continent. The motive may not be altruistic but it is a function of rising incomes and improving living standards. As a result, new think-tanks have been set up to propose how individual countries, or indeed the continent as a whole, can make the most of this momentum.

Ansu says: “Many think-tanks and other non-state actors have embraced the economic transformation agenda, culminating in the Fifteenth Global Development Network Conference in June 2014, with the theme ‘Structural Transformation in Africa and Beyond’. Participants from more than 100 countries attended, agreeing that ‘Africa has been growing rapidly, but transformation has been relatively slow’, paraphrasing what we had been saying for years.”

Such is the number of think-tanks in Africa now that the first African continental think-tank summit was held in Pretoria in February. Organised by the University of Pennsylvania, the African Capacity Building Foundation, the African Leadership Center and the Institute for Security Studies, it was entitled Think-tanks and the transformation of Africa.

In addition, two initiatives have been set up precisely in order to promote the development of think-tanks in Africa. The Think-tank Initiative, which is funded by the Hewlett Foundation among others, is backing a wide range of think-tanks in the developing world, including the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research and the Ethiopian Economic Policy Research Institute. Its stated goal is to enable think-tanks to better provide sound research that informs and influences policy.

A second organisation plays a similar role and is entirely focused on Africa: the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), which benefits from funding from the World Bank and other donors. It has a long track record on the continent, having supported the creation or strengthening of more than 30 think-tanks since it was set up in 1991.

Africa has come a very long way since the era of independence in the 1950s and 1960s when most economic policies were framed outside the continent. Now, as the continent works towards its new destiny, African thinkers are once again in charge and the battle cry they want to hear reverberating across the continent is: transformation in our generation. “Our work, as thought-leaders, is to take this urgent necessity – transformation – and turn it into continental movement as compelling as the call to independence once was.”