the role of think tanks in africa and the need for endogenous knowledge production in sub-saharan...
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The Role of Think Tanks in Africa and the need for endogenous knowledge production in Sub-Saharan Africa Skype: andrew.williams.jr / [email protected] / +1-888-802-8599 / http://andrewwilliamsjr.blogspot.com/ / http://www.slideshare.net/andrewwilliamsjrTRANSCRIPT
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Shaping African futures: think tanks and the need for endogenous knowledge production in Sub-Saharan Africa
1. Introduction
A quarter of the world’s population and much of global poverty and violence will be located in
Africa in the next few decades. Africa has also, however, recently experienced the longest
sustained period of economic growth since the onset of liberation some 50 years ago. In spite of
prospects that could be either very bad or very good, little systematic attention has been paid to
understanding alternative African futures as an aid to improved decision-making and action by
governments and by other key agents and stakeholders
Although it receives less attention than China, India, Brazil and other emerging economies,
Africa is undergoing tremendous change. For much of the post-colonial phase, a dismal period
of declining prosperity and increased insecurity, scholars characterized the continent as engaged
in a process of ‘delayed state formation’ – a process effectively frozen with the advent and for the
duration of the Cold War. Today a rapidly increasing population and even higher urbanization
rates characterize a continent traditionally viewed as a development laggard. Despite widespread
poverty, inadequate educational attainment, major health challenges, deepening socio-economic
inequalities, conflicts over limited resources and border disputes, the rise of ‘African Taliban’ in
the Horn, Sahel and Maghreb regions as well as an apparent decline in social cohesion, African
prospects for achieving sustained economic growth are, however, perhaps better than ever. Yet,
within two decades the impact of climate change and food insecurity will begin to impact
severely upon African prospects even as the continent benefits from a global commodities boom
that has seen almost a decade of sustained economic growth prior to the recent food and financial
shocks.
What will drive African futures? In part it will be global and external forces including worldwide
energy supply and demand, trade patterns, and rates of foreign and domestic investment. In even
larger part, of course, it will be domestic and regional forces including patterns of migration,
fertility, ICT adoption, HIV/AIDS, the quality of governance, government spending on
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education, tends in peace and security, regional and sub-regional integration shape the future of
the continent.
This all creates bewildering complexity and uncertainty with respect to potential local and
continental futures. There are, however, key certainties that frame analysis of those futures.
Firstly, the issues of African development cut across the domains of individual human
development, of social stability and interpersonal security, and of environmental sustainability.
These issues are bound with each other too intensely to allow consideration only in isolation; we
must consider them in interaction.
Secondly, the issues of African development are long-term. Now fifty years beyond
independence for most of the states in Africa, much has been accomplished; yet so much remains
to be done that horizons stretching to mid-century clearly add needed perspective with respect to
required long-term financial and social investments. The horizon of the Millennium
Development Goals is upon us and, while still acting in the immediate future; we must shift our
attention from that horizon to considerably more distant ones.
Thirdly, a wide geographic perspective facilitates understanding. External forces have time and
again reshaped African development patterns. Regional and even continental neighbourhood
effects, including conflicts, migration, and infrastructure connectivity, reinforce attention to
countries and sub-regions in Africa-wide and global context. Multiple geographical perspectives
are needed.
In the face of today’s and tomorrow’s challenges and threats, Africa stands to lose more than any
other region in the world. This is so because it has limited response capacity and a historical lack
of effective agency. That suggests, of course, that it also has more to win than other regions
should it develop the capability to respond via informed and active leadership. Deeper and more
integrated understanding of current and future challenges and opportunities can contribute to
improved leadership and action.
In this regard, responding to the global and continental context and finding appropriate solutions
to Africa’s manifold problems necessitate the generation of context-sensitive and/or nationally
relevant knowledge and capacities to inform long-term innovative and robust policy decisions
around interacting issues. With the limited capacity of the African governments and their
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economies, solutions to the continent’s challenges will come not only come from the services
and/or expertise of traditional economic sectors like mining, agriculture and manufacturing, but
also from the knowledge economy based on intellectual services and expertise provided by think
tanks. In fact, policy makers in the African legislative and executive branches of government
will, for many years to come, face the common problem of bringing expert knowledge to bear on
government decision-making at a time of a bewildering rise in global and local complexity and
interdependence1.
The intellectual services, expertise and innovative capacities of think-thanks will be much needed
and will, as they are currently doing, shape African futures. This is so because they can be used to
influence and inform public policy in real time and space. These institutions are capable of acting
as a bridge between the academic and policymaking communities, serving in the public interest
as an, arguably, independent voice that translates applied and basic policy research into a
language and form that is understandable, reliable, and accessible for policymakers and the
public’2.
Their capacities contribute to the enrichment of democracy and facilitation of good governance in
the continent. Admittedly, democratization, which brings with it greater pressure on government
officials to make decisions based on empirical facts and thorough research and for the state to
deliver services and redistribute economic benefits more efficiently bodes well for the
development and sustainability of an African think-tank sector. The more open the political space
is and the more room there is for debate on policy issues, the more positive contribution by think
tanks.
In addition, the prospect of African development depends not only on the presence of responsible
and responsive government, effective administration, appropriate skills and investment, but also
on well-informed policy projections, priorities and responses which think tanks are in the
1 McGann James, G. (2008). ‘Global Go to Think tanks 2008’. Think tanks and Civil Society Programs, University of Pennsylvania; Pennsylvania, US.
2 Ibid
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business of providing. 3 Just as the overseas development assistance will help to provide some of
the necessary finance for African governments to respond to their problems, think tanks are
centrally in generating long-term prosperity by attracting the private sector investments.4
Supporting and strengthening the think-tank sector and capitalizing on its expertise is essential to
Africa’s ability to prepare and respond to complex human security threats.
To this end, the role of think-tank capacities and expertise in shaping African futures forms an
immediate motivation for this paper. With a particular focus on broader social sciences think
tanks in Sub-Saharan Africa, this paper looks at how their knowledge generation capacities and
other expertise can help shape better African futures. The following issues are thoroughly
examined; firstly, the history of the industry in the continent and its current form/nature and size;
secondly, the current trends and challenges facing the sector ; thirdly, the contribution the sector
can make to Africa’s development and lastly, the challenges facing the sector. The paper also
maps out the future agenda of African think tanks.
Following this introduction is a brief conceptual overview. The next section looks at the history
and development of the sector in the continent. Subsequent sections look at the capacities
(including its size and scope) of the sector and its impact on policy-making. The paper concludes
by providing some few concluding observations and recommendations.
2. Conceptual Overview
It is not our intention to reconceptualise, redefine and compare numerous and different
definitions of ‘futures’ and think-tank. But since concepts and definitions are by their nature
‘contextual and contingent upon the ideological, epistemological or methodological orientation of
their purveyors’5, our aim here is to only put the two concepts (‘futures’ and think tank) into
context and explain how they are going to be used in this paper.
3 Adrian Johnson, Terence McNamee and Greg Mills. ‘The Think-tank and advisory business in Africa’. Report of the 2009 Tswalu Dialogue. South Africa
4 Ibid
5 David Simon. ‘Development Reconsidered; New Directions in Development Thinking’. In Geografiska Annaler. Series B, Human Geography, Vol. 79, No. 4, Current Development Thinking (1997), pp. 183-201. Blackwell Publishing, Stockholm, Sweden
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When we are referring to Africa’s future we use the plural term ‘futures’ rather than the singular
‘future’. This pluralization creates a space for us not only to envision, analyze the sources,
patterns, and causes of change and stability in the continent but also to postulate possible,
plausible, and preferable futures6. We depart from the premise that there can be as many futures
as possible and through systematic and pattern-based understanding of past and present events,
possible future novelties can be postulated and possible futures can be mapped out. The aim is
not to engage on a prediction exercise about African futures but rather to understand, think about
and explore long-term trends and how they may impact on alternative African Futures.
On a similar note, it is important to also explain what, at least according to this paper, is a think
tank? What do think tanks do? And why are they important?
To provide a concise definition of what a think tank is can be very challenging. There is an
increasing acknowledgement amongst scholars7 that it is more difficult to define a think tank and
to reach a consensus on a conventional definition. According to Stones et al “these
organizations elude simple definition, in large because there is no consensus on what constitutes
a think tank….trying to agree on what think tank is and what is its primary goals are result to
more questions than answers”.8 McGann captures this very well when saying that “ in trying to
define a think tank, “I know one when I see one”9
These difficulties are also attributed to the ambiguity, elasticity and slippery nature of this
concept.10 This concept is seen as being slippery because “it has been applied haphazardly to any
6 See the definition of futures by the World Futures Studies Federation available at http://www.wfsf.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=74&Itemid=135 (accessed on 09 November 2010)
7 See McGann James G and Weaver Kent 2002. Think Tanks & Civil Societies: Catalysts for Ideas and Action. Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick 2002; Abelson, Donald E. Do Think Tanks Matter? Assessing the Impact of Public Policy Institutes. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2002, 246 pp. and Stone Diane, Denham, Andrew and Garnett, Mark. Think tanks across nations: a comparative approach. Manchester, Manchester University Press, 1998
8 Stone et al (1998)
9 Abelson (2002)
10 See Abelson (2002); Stone et al (1998, 2004) and; Smith, J.A. The Idea Brokers: Think Tanks and the Rise of New Policy Elite. New York: Free Press, 1991. 313 pp
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organization undertaking policy related, technical or scientific research”.11 It is not uncommon to
find non-governmental organizations and interests groups working in the policy field being
referred to or referring to themselves as think tanks. Commercial research firms and advisory
consulting firms are also often confused with think tanks. Due to lack of clarity on what
constitutes a think tank, non-governmental organizations, interests groups, policy advocacy
coalitions and even research networks that populate the policy-making area are all grouped
together under one term, think tanks. Think tanks are non-partisan, not for profit organizations
and are primary interested in research and analysis on policy issues. Although they are interested
in understanding, defining and framing policy issues and influencing policy- making processes,
they operate outside the realm of politics. What set them apart from other organizations is that,
they do not engage in public demonstrations and unlike NGOs and interests groups, their task is
not to aggregate and articulate popular interests.
An increasingly important component of think tank activity - that is building of regional and
international policy research networks, also tends to compound these conceptual difficulties. The
distinction is often blurred between loose and voluntary networks of policy research institutions
(good examples in Sub-Saharan Africa are the Organization for Social Science Research in
Eastern and Southern Africa (OSSREA) and Council for the Development of Social Science
Research in Africa (CODESRIA) and think tanks. Think tanks are not research networks, but
networking is part of their activity. As pointed out by Stone, “research networks are composed
of research institutes and policy centers that are organizationally similar in structure and general
objectives and they exclude other non-state actors such as NGOs, private firms, and professional
associations”.12 As evidenced by the South-South Research Networks in the global South,
networks are mainly found at the regional level and are a reflection of shared historical
conditions, ties of language and ethnicity, and of encountering similar or trans-border policy
problems. 13
11 Stone et al (1998)
12Stone, D. (2000a). 'Think tanks across nations: the new networks of knowledge', NIRA Review,. Winter, 34–9. 13 Ibid
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As indicated above and as Abelson rightfully observes, at times lack of conceptual clarity
coupled with the degree of overlap between think tank activity and that of other organizations in
the society prevents a clear-cut boundary between think tanks and other entities.14 To respond to
this overlap, some analysts and scholars have come up with a number of tags such as ‘universities
without students’, ‘epistemic communities’, ‘ideas brokers’, ‘thinking class’, ‘discursive
communities’ etc.
But the question still remains, what is a think tank? It might seem that the lack of consensus on
definitional issues discussed above has not prevented formulation of definitions. According to the
2009 The Global Go to Think tanks Report, think tanks are “public policy research, analysis and
engagement institutions that generate policy-oriented research, analysis and advice on domestic
and international issues that in turn, enable both policymakers and the public at large to make
informed decisions about public policy Issues”15. To the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) “think tanks are “[the] bridge between knowledge and power"16. McGann
agrees with the UNDP and posits, “at their best, think tanks are the filters and synthesizers that
facilitate the identification of policy issues, the design of policy solutions, and the
implementation of and feedback on policy decisions”17.
This paper defines think tanks as apolitical independent and not for profit public policy research
institutes that solely work alone or in partnership with others (networks) on rigorous research and
analysis to inform and influence policy processes in different space and time. This concept is also
used here to refer to policy research institutes that work independently, are affiliated to
universities, are state or private sponsored, with highly qualified staff component and provide, on
limited basis, policy advisory services to different stakeholders in the ‘market of ideas’. Focus in
14 Abelson (2002)
15 James G. McGann. The Global Go-To Think tanks:The Leading Public Policy Research Organizations In The World. Think tanks and Civil Societies Program International Relations Program University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA USA. 21 January 2010
16SeeStone, Diana. "Think tanks and Policy Advice in Countries in Transition." How to Strengthen Policy-Oriented Research and Training in Viet Nam, Asian Development Bank Institute Symposium. Hanoi, 31 Aug. 2005. P. 2.
17 James G. McGann, 2010
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this paper is not on independent policy pressure groups or advocacy coalitions within policy ‘sub-
systems’. We focus on those organizations that try to identify, frame and define issues and
influence policy making process through their intellectual ideas and analysis rather than
lobbying. We pay a particular attention on the organizations that are engaged in rigorous policy
analysis and are concerned with ideas and concepts that underline policies.
3. The History and Development of Think tanks in Sub-Saharan Africa: An Overview
Though ‘epistemic communities’ in Africa started to take shape and to be popularized in the 19th
century, the continent has long been the centre of knowledge generation as early as in the 8th
century. The 2010 Thomson Reuters’ Global Research Report-Africa18 posits, “the continent is
home to a rich history of higher education and knowledge creation….the University of Al
Karaoulne at Fez in Morocco was founded in CE 859 as a madrasa and is identified by many as
the oldest degree awarding institution in the world”. The Al Karaoulne University was followed
by another North Africa based University, an Egyptian Al-Azhar University established in 97019.
The Timbuktu region in Mali is also known for its ancient ‘intellectual discursive communities’
and epistemic communities. Writing in the 1960s, Cheikh Anta Diop, the well known Senegalese
historian, wrote that centuries before Europe colonized the continent and questioned the primitive
character of African ‘mentality’, Aristotelian logic was being discussed by local African scholars
in places like Timbuktu20. According to Diop, “Four centuries before Levy-Bruhl wrote his
primitive mentality (also known by the title How Natives Think) Black Muslim Africa was
commenting on Aristotle’s ‘formal logic’ and was devoted to dialectics”21.
However, the critique of these ancient centres of knowledge is that they were mainly focused on
religious issues. The epistemological and methodological orientation of the medieval African
Scholars like Ahmad Baba al-Massufi al-Tinbukti (October 26, 1556 – 1627) were, to a larger
18 Adams et al, 2010
19 Ibid pg 1
20 Souleymane Bachir Diagne. “Toward an intellectual history of West Africa: the meaning of Timbuktu”. In Shamil Jeppie and Souleymane Bachir Diagne (eds). The Meanings of Timbuktu. The Human Sciences Research Council Press, Pretoria, South Africa 21 See Diop C.A.1960. L’Afrique noire precoloniale. Paris: Presence Africaine
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extent, informed and shaped by their religious beliefs. Their currents of thoughts and thematics
were only grounded on their subjective experience and religious narratives. Thus, some scholars
do not consider these medieval centres of knowledge and intellectual discursive communities to
be akin to the 19th century think-tank. In fact, to these scholars the ancient African Universities
and centres of excellence cannot be compared to and are not equivalents of the 19th century think-
tank.
Many critical African Scholars have been arguing that Africa does not have its own think tanks,
as outsiders set their agendas . Some people see as extensions or purveyors of Northern interests.
They are often accused of not being independent enough or of advancing their own political
agendas and contradictory agendas of the key actors in a globalizing world. The Dakar School of
Thought and the Dar Es Salaam School of Thought22, over the last decades, have been vocal in
critiquing modes of knowledge generation in Africa, the work of epistemic communities in
Africa, the paradigms and languages that are used in narrativizing African realities and of late,
the work of think tanks. To some, radical/Marxist African Scholars, the think-tank sector
represents an institutionalized paradigmatic domination of the continent by Europeans and
Westerners23. In fact, these scholars view the ‘ideas business’ in Africa as extroverted and
reinforcing the “subordination of African traditional knowledge to the world system of
knowledge”24.
Their claims are tempting in that, the recent history of and the latest developments in the think-
tank sector have all been attributed to the advanced industrialised countries and Western
democracies. Think tanks are western constructs and were once found almost exclusively in the
capitals of the developed West25. Perhaps, this is why they have been criticized by critical
22 The prominent scholars associated with these schools of thought include but are not limited to Archie Mafeje, Kwesi Prah Appiah, Paulin Hountondji, Cheikh Anta Diop, Claude Ake, Thandika Mkandawire, Jimi Adesina, Issa Shivji and others
23 Please see Jeremiah Arowosegbe. “decolonising the social sciences in the global South: Claude Ake and the praxis of knowledge production in Africa”. ASC Working Paper 29/2008. University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
24 See Paulin Hountondji. Producing Knowledge in Africa Today: the second Bashorun M.K.O Abiola Distinguished Lecture. African Studies Review, Vol.38, No.3 (December, 1995) pp1-10
25 In his critique of the social sciences in Africa, Paulin Hountondji even question the discipline of African Studies, asking a question as to “How African are the so-called African Studies? I’m sure he would also extend the question to African think tanks and ask How African are they because to him they form part of an overall project of knowledge accumulation initiated and controlled by the West ( See Paulin Hountondji. “Knowledge of Africa,
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African scholars and some African governments. However, contrary to the generalization that
think tanks are new in the continent , Sub-Saharan Africa has relatively old think tanks that,
during different and difficult political periods in the continent, managed to resist pressure.
The sector has a very profound history harking back to the late 1920s. As shown by figure 1
below, although the great expansion of ‘ideas brokers’ (think tanks) in Africa didn’t not begin
until the late 1980s and early 1990s, these formations have been in existence throughout the
decolonization period and ever since the times of liberation struggles. The first of its kind in Sub-
Saharan Africa was the South African Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR), established in 1929
during the challenging times of great depression. This was to be followed by the South African
Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) in 1934. Though in Ghana, the Institute of Statistical,
Social and Economic Research (ISSER) and Centre for Development Studies were established in
1962 and 1969 respectively, in comparative terms, South Africa remains one of the countries
with the oldest think tanks.
Knowledge by Africans: Two perspectives on African Studies”. RCCS Annual Review 1, September 2009. African Centre for Advanced Studies, Benin
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Figure1: Extracted from the 2007 Survey of Global Think tanks by James McGann
Observably, whereas the first think tanks in Africa were founded in the 1920's, these institutes
remained uncommon in Sub-Saharan Africa until the 1960's.26 According to the 2007 Global
Think-Tank Survey, this increase in the 1960’s is attributable to the period of decolonization
during which the majority of African countries received their independence. This is correct, after
a period of stagnancy in the 1940s up until late 1950s, a minimal growth of think thanks was
recorded during the 1960s and early 1970s. For instance, the Centre for Conflict Resolution
(CCR) and the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) in South Africa were both established
in 1968, the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) and Centre for
Development Studies in Ghana were established in 1962 and 1969 respectively and
CODESERIA in Senegal, Freedom Market foundation in South Africa and the Nigerian Institute
of International Affairs were all established in early 1970s.
26Peter Ronald de Souza. ‘The Role of Research Institutes and Think tanks in Democratic Governance Reform’. Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla Presentation at the “UNDP OGC roundtable on Evidence into Policy: The Role of Research Institutes and Think tanks”, Cairo, 18 -19, January 2009.
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As mentioned earlier on, throughout the world, with Africa included, the establishment of think
tanks and their growth appears to be at least partially tied to a series of major political, social and
economic events.27 In Ghana for instance, shortly after its independence Dr. Kwame Nkrumah set
up various state-supported think tanks such as the Cocoa Research Institute and the Council for
Scientific and Industrial Research.28 An interesting question then is, what was the role of these
think tanks in policy-making and what influence and impact did they have? On closer inspection,
it seems that they had no impact at all on policy processes. This is so because during the post-
independence period policy priorities were not driven by empirical research and evidence, but
rather by political ideologies and preoccupations with state formation.
However, as shown by Figure 1 above, there was no great expansion of think tanks in the late 70s
until late 80s and early 90s. There are many reasons for this. After some few years in office, the
new ruling elites started to change the rules of the game. This led to a deficit of democratic space
and low appreciation for objective policy work done by think tanks.29 During this period, media
space and opportunities to express thoughts that are not in line with those of the ruling elites
ranged from limited to naught and the space for think tanks to contribute to policy debates was
shrinking by the hour.30
The ruling elite saw policy-making as purely a government concern that should be only limited to
the selected few and to be out of reach for public policy researchers In many African countries,
this mode of thinking discouraged the growth of the sector and successfully kept them out of the
policy formulation processes throughout late 70s and early 80s.
Although the think-tank sector in other parts of the world has been well established ever since
1960s as shown by figure 2 below, in the African context, it took time for the sector to be well
established and to flourish. As mentioned earlier on, this was due to the growing suspicion and
27Goran Buldioski. ‘Think instead of Tanks’. Turkish Policy Quarterly, October 1, 2007 28 Available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_tank (accessed on 5 September 2009)
29 Also see Goran Buldioski. Think Tanks in Central and Eastern Europe in Urgent Need of a Code of Ethics The International Journal of Not-for-Profit Law Volume 11, Issue 3, May 2009 30 Ibid
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marginalisation of the sector and the fear that its growth will agitate for regime change and thus
pose threat to the power of the ruling elite.
Figure 1 above shows that the growth of the industry in Africa only started to be recorded in
1980s and peaked up during the late 80s and early 90s. During this period there was a great
expansion of the think-tank industry. The mushrooming of think tanks in Africa in 1990s
occurred in tandem with the developments in Eastern Europe and other parts of the world (see
figure 2 below). As McGann rightfully points out in the 2007 Global Think tanks Survey, there
are a number of trends that influenced the market of ideas in the continent and they include, but
are not limited to the following;
a) The fall of the Berlin Wall and the Third Wave of Democratization
b) Information revolution
c) End of government monopoly on information
d) Complexity and technical nature of policy problems
e) Size of government and crisis in confidence in government officials
f) Globalization and the growth of state and non-state actors
g) Need for timely and concise information and analysis “in the right form at the right time”
These trends transformed the economic, social and political debates in most countries of the
world, which in turn, created a greater demand for policy research and advice.31 For instance,
during and after the Cold War, the continent witnessed an intense competition for advancement
of certain strategic interests. Western countries dug deep into their pockets, supporting some
think tanks affiliated to governments with the aim of influencing the political and ultimate policy
directions.
As McGann and Weaver rightfully observes, countries “such as the United States were extremely
generous in their donations to African states that supported free elections and democratic 31 McGann James G and Weaver Kent 2002.
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transitions and throughout the Cold War. Much aid during this period was provided both by the
Soviet Union and the United States in an attempt to gain client states that supported their
particular ideologies”.32 Apart from these two countries, with transition in countries like Namibia
and negotiations in South Africa there was also an increase in foreign investment to Africa from
Western businesses.
Figure 2: Extracted from the Global Go to Think tanks Survey 2008 by McGann
In addition, this proliferation of ideas brokers in Africa in early 1990s can also be attributed to
the changes in the understanding of this concept of security. Before, the African ruling elite
understood security as it relates to their political survival rather than the protection of citizens and
sovereignty. Unexpectedly, the fall of the Berlin Wall brought changes in the political and socio-
economic situation of the world. Some of these changes offered opportunities for increased
cooperation and action between state and non-state actors to advance the cause of human
freedom.
On the positive side, the post-Cold war period witnessed a paradigmatic shift in the discourse on
and practice of security. This shift involved the broadening of the unit of analysis of security
from the state to individuals and groups of people within states. These shifts from state to human
security also contributed to the proliferation of think tanks. With the emergence and growing
32 Ibid
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prominence of human security threats like poverty, desertification, unemployment and HIV/Aids,
there was a growing demand for policy research advice on these issues. Huge amounts of funding
from Western countries and government agencies were channelled to think tanks to conduct
cutting edge research on these emerging security threats.
However, as shown in figures 1 & 2, ever since the year 2000 there has been a slow decrease in
the number of think tanks being established. Currently, “a mere 3.3 think tanks are established in
Sub-Saharan Africa per year and this is a remarkable decrease from the 9.9 institutions founded
per year in the 1990's”.33 The reported decrease in establishment of think tanks does not mean
that there are no think tanks being established and this trend is not unique to the African region
only. The same decline was noted all over the world, particularly in the United States and
Western Europe as shown in figure 2. As pointed out in the Global Go to Think tanks Survey,
there are many reasons for the decline in establishment of the new think tanks in the world and
they include the following;
a) Political and regulatory environment hostile to think tanks and NGOs
b) Changes in funding priorities by major public and private donors
c) Underdeveloped institutional capacity
d) Advocacy organizations, for profit consulting firms and electronic media are replacing
some think tanks
e) Donors funded short term projects and programs instead of strengthening capacity and
building institutions
f) Institutions have served their purpose and have discontinued their operations
4. Surveying the current think-tank landscape in Sub-Saharan Africa
4.1 Size of the Sector
The figures below are adapted from the Global Think-Tank Survey 2008 graphical estimations.
They indicate the distribution or spread of think tanks in Sub-Saharan Africa as of 2008-2009. In
figure 3 below, the countries highlighted in purple had a think-tank (TT) range of 0-10, the 33 Ibid
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orange ones had a range of 10-20, the blue ones had a range of 20-30, the yellow ones had a
range of 30-40, the orange-red ones had a range of 40-85 and figures are not available for the
grey (uncoloured) ones.
Figure 3: Adapted from the findings of the 2008 -2009 Global Go to Think tanks Survey
In 2008-2009, of the 53 states in Africa, only 42 states had think-tank representation, and of these
42 only 14 African states had 10 or more think tanks, namely, Burkina Faso (16), Cameroon (20),
Cote d’Ivoire (12), Ethiopia (20), Ghana (36), Kenya (56), Malawi (13), Namibia (11), Nigeria
(45), Senegal (16), South Africa (84), Tanzania (11), Uganda (23) and Zimbabwe (21). Using
Freedom House’s Freedom in the World Index for 2008 as a measure of the guarantee and
protection of civil rights and civil liberties, the above mentioned were classified as either free or
partly free with the exception of Cameroon and Zimbabwe due to the repressive trends in these
countries. This is a further evidence of the strong link between democratization and the growth of
think tanks.
The think-tank sector in sub-Saharan Africa is thriving in those states considered by most to be
the beacons of Africa across the areas of good governance, rule of law, socioeconomic
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development and political development, notwithstanding the many domestic challenges that these
states continue to grapple with: Ghana and Nigeria in West Africa, Kenya in East Africa and
South Africa in Southern Africa (all with an HDI measure of between 0.5 and 0.68).
The following list indicate the number of think tanks in Africa per country:
Figure 4: Number of think tanks by country- adapted from the findings of the 2008 -2009 Global
Go to Think tanks Survey
Country
Think tanks Number
Algeria Angola 4 Benin 13 Botswana 10 Burkina Faso 16 Burundi 6 Cameroon 20 Cape Verde 2 Central Africa Republic 2 Chad 3 Comoros 0 Congo 3 Congo D.R 7 Cote D’Ivoire 12 Djibouti 15 Egypt Equatorial Guinea Eritrea 4 Ethiopia 20 Gabon 2 Gambia 6 Ghana 36 Guinea 1 Guinea-Bissau 0 Kenya 56 Lesotho 1 Liberia 3 Libya Madagascar 2 Malawi 13 Mali 9 Mauritania
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Mauritius 2 Morocco Mozambique 4 Namibia 11 Niger 4 Nigeria 45 Rwanda 4 Sao Tome & Principe 0 Senegal 16 Seychelles 1 Sierra Leone 1 Somalia 4 South Africa 84 Sudan 4 Swaziland 1 Tanzania 11 Togo 4 Tunisia Uganda 23 Zambia 8 Zimbabwe 21 TOTAL 503
According to the Global Think-Tank Survey 2009, out of the 503 think tanks in Africa, the top
and largest think thanks were in Sub-Saharan Africa. The top 25 think tanks in Sub-Saharan
Africa were from South Africa, Senegal, Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and
Nigeria.
As shown by figure 6 below, this uneven distribution of think tanks in Sub-Saharan Africa also
extends to the research output. According to the 2010 Thomson Reuters’ Global Research
Report-Africa, for the years 1999 to 2008, the central region of Africa (see the table below)
produced the smallest quantity of papers, roughly about 7,100 per year despite being the region
with the greatest number of countries and the south region, although made up of only 14
countries produced more than 10,000 papers.
19
Figures 5 &6: Extracted from the 2010 Thomson Reuters’ Global Research Report-Africa
4.2 Sub-Saharan Africa’s Share of Global Think-tank Industry
As indicated by figure 5 below, of the world’s 6,305 think tanks, about 503 (8 %) are from Sub-
Saharan Africa, compared to Washington DC which alone hosts 393 think tanks. It is interesting
to note that although Latin America and Asia have experienced a steady increase in the number
of new think tanks, Africa has seen a decline in past years. US based and European (mainly UK
based) think tanks dominate the top positions of the Think-tank Index. The Cape Town-based
Centre for Conflict Resolution (CCR) is the only African institute to feature in the index of the
Top 50 Non-US Think tanks.
20
Figure 7: Extracted from the Global Go to Think tanks 2009 Survey
It is clear that Sub-Saharan Africa think tanks are grossly underrepresented in this burgeoning
industry. In an attempt to analyse the state of think tanks in Sub-Saharan Africa it is important to
make some concessions. The think-tank industry is not without its discrepancies and does not
epitomise a level playing field. Think tanks on the continent are comparably underfunded and not
very well resourced as compared to their Western counterparts. Furthermore, they do not possess
the necessary skill sets as they struggle to retain ‘quality staff’ that are lured away by the promise
of better opportunities and working conditions in larger institutions, mostly in developed
countries. The decrease in number of graduates produced by African Universities, and brain drain
are also the key contributing factors. For instance, it was recently reported that SouthAfricawas
unable“toproduceenoughdoctoralgraduatestobuildthe'knowledgeeconomy'itaspires
21
to,orsimplytoreplacetheexistingcohortofacademicsinthehighereducationsystem”34
AccordingtotheUNEconomicCommissionforAfrica,althoughdata on brain drain in Africa
is scarce and inconsistent; however, statistics show a continent losing the very people it needs
most for economic, social, scientific, and technological progress.35
Despite encountering some difficult operating environments, Sub-Saharan Africa think tanks
have significantly increased in number (from 274 in 2007 to 503 in 2008). However, what
remains a challenge is the limited number of research outputs coming from Africa. The continent
remains a large consumer of knowledge and not a producer. According to Pauw, “there is a low
global presence of African research outputs and Sub-Saharan Africa contributes 0.7% to world
science output”.36
5. Challenges facing Think tanks in Sub-Saharan Africa
The key challenges that face Sub-Saharan African think tanks evolve around the following
issues: funding, interests and agenda concerns and strained relations with host country
authorities/governments.
5.1 Funding
Money remains a challenge for well functioning of think tanks in Africa. The production and
marketing of ideas also need some financial injections. Unfortunately, there are no philanthropic
traditions in the continent to support the work of independent public policy research institutions.
More so, there is no reliable pool of domestic public funding of think tanks to ensure the
34 Dell, Sharon. South Africa: Decline in PhD numbers a major problem. World University News, 22 August 2010 (also available at http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php? story=20100820150736361
35 See (http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-71249-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html) “ The ECA estimates that between 1960 and 1989, some 127,000 highly qualified African professionals left the continent and according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Africa has been losing 20,000 professionals each year since 1990 “ (ibid).
36 See a presentation by Christoff Pauw titled South-South Research Collaboration: The case of Stellenbosch University. Presented during a Workshop held at University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, May 2010. Also see (French Academies des Sciences 2006; Worldmapper). “Today, 20% of [African] researchers who are still active carry out most of their research outside the walls of academia and traditional research bodies, usually for international organizations, foreign intergovernmental bodies and NGOs.” ( Schmaus, W. ‘A New Way of Thinking about Social Location in Science’, Science & Education (2008) 17:1127–1137.
22
sustainability of these value-adding institutions. As a result, dependence on donor funding is
inevitable.37As shown in figure 6 below, of the 63 think tanks in Africa responding to the budget
question on the 2007 survey, the vast majority have annual budgets of less than $500,000 and,
unlike in the U.S., none have a budget of more than $50 million.38 The large chunk of their
budget and core funding came from foreign support. The 2007/2008 annual reports of all the 25
largest think tanks in Sub-Saharan Africa that participated in the 2008 Global Go to Think tanks
Survey reveal that they are still falling short of that $50 million. In 2008, the Human Sciences
Research Council in South Africa was the only think-tank in Sub-Saharan Africa with the budget
close to that amount (R264.3 million). The financial reports of the largest think tanks in the
region also indicate that they are supported by larger international organizations, such as the
United Nations or the World Bank and Western government agencies such as USAID, GTZ and
DFID.
Figure 8: Extracted from 2007 Survey of Think tanks
In May 2009, during the annual meetings of the African Development Bank, Canada’s
International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation 37 McGann 2008
38 McGann 2008
23
and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced that they would each commit at total
amount of US$90 million in grants to 24 think tanks in East and West Africa in their Think-tank
Initiative. These join other Western based donor such as the Ford Foundation, the Oslo
Foundation and Trust Africa.
Quite often than not, new funding opportunities influence the growth of other think tanks and
non-governmental organizations (and whether or not they compete for funding). The sad reality is
that legitimate and reputable think tanks have to compete for this limited funding with fly by
nights Mongos (My own NGOs), Pongos (Politicians' NGOs), Mangos (Mafia NGOs), and
Congos (Commercial NGOs), each marketing itself as a credible voice of "the people", while
harbouring some unspoken interest, not least the chasing of funds.39
Indeedanendogenousmodeloffinancing&resourcingforthinkstanksinAfricais
desirability.TheinitiativesthathavebeentakenbysuchAfricaninstitutionslikethe New
Partnership for Africa's Development(NEPAD)andtheAfricanCapacityBuildingFoundation
(ACBF)aregoodstepsatarightdirectionandarecommendable.Sinceitsinceptionin
1991,ACBFhasbeenissuinggrantsandprovidingfinancialsupportforknowledge
productsandservicestoAfricanpolicyinstitutesandcentres,TheACBFhasadopted
innovativemodelsinitssupportfortertiaryinstitutionsandotherspecializedtraining
institutionsintheareasofeconomicandfinancialmanagementandstrengtheningpublic
management.40
Today,economicpolicyanalysisandmanagementisthelargestACBFcorecompetencyarea
ofintervention.SincetheestablishmentoftheFoundationin1991,thefirstgenerationof
ACBF‐supportedinterventionshaslentsupporttopolicyresearchcentersandeconomic39Availableathttp://www.saiia.org.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=828:civil-society-
principles-and-per-diems&catid=62:governance-a-aprm-opinion&Itemid=159 (Accessed on 05 March 2010). Also
see Corrigan Terence 2008.Civil Society, principles and per diems. AllAfrica.com 11 August 2008
40 A good example of this innovative partnership model is the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC), which is the executing agency for various economics and agricultural economics programs. These include CEPA, Ghana; Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), Ghana; Centre for Corporate Governance (CCG), NGO Council, KIPPRA, and
IPAR, Kenya (see African Capacity Building Foundation. Annual Report 2009. Harare, Zimbabwe
24
policymanagementtrainingprograms.AccordingtotheACBF2009AnnualReport,The
foundationcontributedtotherevitalizationofanumberofexistingregionalinstitutions
suchastheBanqueCentraledesEtatsdel'Afriquedel'Ouest/BanquedesEtatsdel'Afrique
Centrale(BCEAO/BEAC),theAfricanTrainingandResearchCentreinAdministrationand
Development(CAFRAD),CESAG,theCouncilfortheDevelopmentofSocialScienceResearch
inAfrica(CODESRIA)andtheAssociationofAfricanUniversities(AAU).41In2009,ACBF‐
supportedpolicyunitsliketheKenyaInstituteforPublicPolicyResearchandAnalysis
(KIPPRA)providerigorousanalysisandinsightfulperspectivesoneconomicpolicyissues
intheircountries.42KIPPRAlaunchedtheKenyaEconomicReportentitled:“Buildinga
GloballyCompetitiveEconomy”.43
Sincethefoundationwasformedwithassistancefromtheinternationaldonorcommunity
undertheauspicesofworldbankandUNDP,thisisagoodillustrationthatmutually
benefitiallyandequalpartnershipsbetweenthecontinentandtheinternationalcommunity
needtobefurtherdeepenedsincetheyarecentrallyinhelpingthecontinenttofind
solutionstoitsproblems.TheACBFexamplealsoshowsthattotheinternationaldonor
communitythatpartnershipscanbesustainableandcanyieldexpecteddividendsisthe
conditionsarenotimposedanddictatedandifthereislocalownershipandthecontinentis
seenasanequalpartner.ForAfricangovernments,theACBFexperiencecanbeusedto
buildotherendogenousfinancemodelsaimedatsupportingknowledgeproductioninthe
continent.
5.2 Strained Relations, Interests and Agendas
Athough there is no empirical evidence of the scope and extent of state-civil relations in Africa,
anecdotal evidence points out that, while over the years there have been some improvements on
these relations, there remains some few challenges.
41 Ibid
42 Ibid
43 Ibid
25
Needless to say, many attempts in recent years have been made to improve state-civil relations
and to involve representatives of think tanks in joint fora with governments. Observably,
“contrary to the situation of the 1970’and 1980s, the new African political leadership recognizes
the role of civil society and wants to work with it in reaching the people and in addressing the
human security challenges”. 44 Since the late 1990s there has been an increasing interaction
between think tanks and the state and at the beginning of this 21st century, this was extended to
both regional and continental governmental bodies.
A good example of this is with the formation of the African Union (AU) in 2002. AU has
adopted a more inclusive stance with regards to the participation of think tanks and other civil
society organizations in the affairs of the organization and that has afforded these groupings with
an unprecedented opportunity to contribute towards the policy making process45. The series of
meetings between AU/civil society that culminated to the drafting of the statutes for the
Economic Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC) further attests to this. Since then, several
think tanks in Africa have been providing capacity building and project implementation
assistance to Regional Economic Communities (RECs) such as Southern Africa Development
Community (SADC), Economic Community of West African States ( ECOWAS) and others.
However, despite these new developments and achievements, not much has changed on the
tensions that exist between government and non-state actors. The antagonistic relationships still
persist in some countries such as Zimbabwe, Eritrea, Gambia and Rwanda to mention just a few.
Think tanks remain closely monitored and do not enjoy the freedom and space to operate freely
and support state actions.46
Although governments do not present alternative funding sources, they consider think tanks with
foreign funding as agents of western countries or neo-colonialists, motivated by the hunger to
access political power, in the process advance foreign interests than those of the society they
44 Fatoumatta M’boge and Sam Gbaydee Doe; African Commitments to civil society Engagement: A review of Eight Countries, Monograph, Human Security Initiative, 2004 45 Tim Murithi. ‘The role of African Think tanks in Influencing Policy on Peace and Security Issues’. Paper presented at University of Bradford, 2005
50 Kapemba C 2005.Can State and Civil Society Become Real Partners in Fighting Poverty in Africa? Presented on
Public Service Day Tele-Conference organized by the South African Department of Public Service, 2005 User � 02/11/10 02:58Deleted: Ibid Ibid Ibid
26
claim to be serving.47 In many cases, the relationship between state and civil society on the
continent continues to be determined and designed by outside actors. Those in government often
accused think tanks of being ideologically and materially too close to their funders or other
internal political forces hence they are very critical and worrisome of them. It is not surprising for
example that governments with reported human rights abuses such as those in Zimbabwe,
Gambia and elsewhere in Africa have been quick in rejecting the financing of civil society
groups, especially human rights groups which are mostly financed by outsiders.48
What also compounds the problem is that think tanks are themselves not homogenous. There are
those who are, allegedly, corrupted and are pursuing other agendas. As Humphries and Reitzes
eloquently puts it, we need to also recognize how civil society mirrors a complex sphere of
contradictory hegemonic projects, promoted by competing actors.49
On first glance, it might seem that the issue of developing endogenous systems of financing for
think tanks discussed above is one way of addressing African governments’ concerns around
think tanks interests and agendas. Some people are arguing that development of local support
mechanisms for policy think tanks can insulate them from frequent donor policy changes, ensure
their sustainability and thus addressing the concerns around interests and agendas. However, the
issue is not so clear as it seems since there are other subtle issues to consider such as geo-political
factors.
What is clear though is that there is a degree of interdependence between government and think
tanks. Government is in need of fresh policy ideas that think tanks are in a business of providing
and think tanks are in need of resource and financial injections that government are capable of
providing. It is through collective efforts that the continent can be able to effectively respond to
its challenges. In order to realize the African solutions to African problems, governments and
think tanks will need to start developing good working relations and for creating spaces/platforms
for mutual learning and sharing.
6. African futures, endogenous knowledge production and think tanks
27
Africa, a large and incredibly diverse continent, demonstrates the difficulty of categorically
defining the role of think tanks in society and of effectively utilizing their capabilities for its
progress.50 A question then is, what is the normative role of think tanks in African societies and
how can their expertise/services be used in shaping the Africa of tomorrow? As Donald Abelson
would ask, do think tanks matter in Sub-Saharan Africa? As it is going to be discussed below,
think tanks do matter, more especially when it comes to knowledge generation, transforming
policy processes and shaping African futures.
6.1 Why a Need for Endogenous Knowledge?
Today, the future of the continent is being shaped by radically different trends. The complexity of
these trends is moving at an astounding pace. Meanwhile, African governments do not have a
capacity to fully comprehend, prepare counter-measures and respond to today’s challenges. Good
examples are food crisis and the financial crisis, where national institutions were not present in
the debate because they had no opportunity to think about these issues years ago51.
In order to transform policy-making and to prepare African governments for today and future
challenges, endogenous knowledge generation, which think tanks are in the business of doing,
becomes indispensable. There is a growing recognition that African policy makers fail to totally
grasp this emerging, but yet, uncertain Africa52. This is so because, with regard to knowledge
generation and churning out of ideas, they are at a disadvantaged position as they continue to rely
less on generation of fresh endogenous ideas and use of local capacities and more on the
importation of ideas and expertise.
For so long, one of their problem has been a strong dependence on others (usually West) for
knowledge production, appropriation and dissemination, a situation which undermines the
51 Africa the Good News. ‘Financial support for African thinks tanks’. Thursday, 02 July 2009
52 Goux-Baudiment F 2009. The role of Think tanks in Developing Countries: Challenges and Solutions. Presented International Conference held on 17-18 January 2009 at Zamalek Marriot Hotel in Cairo, Egypt. This has been the growing trend since independence, with the fall of the copper and coffee price and other political challenges which led the Bretton Woods Institutions to come with structural adjustment programmes with stringent (neo liberal) conditionalities, limiting state intervention and promoting privatisation and the reign of multinational corporations
28
continent’s ability to maximise its democratic potentials and development agenda.53. In fact, the
continent is still infested with policy makers who are addressing African realities in borrowed
discourses and received paradigms and advocating for outside development models”54. To
Arowosegbe, debates on African issues are often filtered through epistemic approaches that are
products of other (largely Western) contexts55.
This is so even though in 2009 there were about 503 think tanks in the continent. This calls for
an increased focus by African governments on the use of think tanks capacities not only for
harnessing Africa’s knowledge generation capacity but also for improved policy making
processes.
The sense of urgency for investing on strong innovation systems, knowledge production
infrastructure and on research and development (R&D) systems is even more critical for African
governments since the world economy in the 21st century has been described as the knowledge
economy. This necessarily means that today and tomorrow’s economic success depends on the
ability to generate knowledge and to apply that knowledge in order to create new innovations that
can be used in the development of communities and human capacities, for greater
competitiveness.56 It also means that greater focus and attention must be placed on tapping into
the expertise and capacities of think tanks and more importantly, on providing them with
alternative sources of funding.
Africa can no longer neglect the searching out of and collection of indigenous knowledge. If
it is to fully realize its potential and will be able to effectively cope with the bewildering
uncertainties, knowledge generation and readiness to participate in the emerging knowledge
economies should be a priority
53 Jeremiah Arowosegbe. “decolonising the social sciences in the global South: Claude Ake and the praxis of knowledge production in Africa”. ASC Working Paper 29/2008. University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
54 Ibid
55 Jeremiah Arowosegbe, 2008
56 Centre for informatics , Knowledge Management and Knowledge Economy. 2008. Knowledge economy. http://www.sancikmke.org.za/economy.htm. Accessed 23 April 2010.
29
In this regard, apart from having expertise that can help African governments to brace themselves
for endogenous knowledge generation in ways that can bring up the African perspectives to the
development of the continent, think tanks also have the required capacity to help African states to
unveil the shortcomings of their traditional views on policy matters. More so, they can help them
to apply cost benefit analysis to government expenditures; to propose alternative decisions to
policy measures; to enhance debate about government role and policy effectiveness.57 Think
tanks are in a unique position to transform policy making and to improve the ability of African
legislators to make informed decisions by providing them with information and resources that
they would otherwise be lacking.
6.2 Shaping African Futures and the role of think tanks
As it has been alluded to above, the journey towards a knowledge economy is a difficult one and
the experiences elsewhere in the world show that governments on their own can not succeed
without assistance from think tanks This means that as African governments are trying to map
out new visions for the future, think tanks can grab the opportunities provided by the current
realities to continue playing a meaningful role in shaping African futures. It is argued that think
tanks could play the following roles in shaping African futures; evaluation, analysis and research;
capacity building and technical support and advisory role; creation of spaces for public dialogue
and education and engaging in policy advocacy.
a) Evaluation, analysis and research
If they are to shape African futures, experts in think tanks need to regularly evaluate and analyze
government policies, programs and projects. It is through thorough analysis and ongoing/periodic
evaluations that they can be able to formulate plausible hypotheses about possible African
futures, develop scenarios and promote the (re) alignment of long term perspectives to strategic
thinking and policy making in Africa.
Parallel to that, through their policy research, they can be able to generate new and thought-
provoking policy ideas. The only way think tank relevance can be guaranteed and they can yield
much influence in shaping African futures is for them to generate new currents of thoughts and
57 See McGann and Weaver 2002, Matlou 2009, Goux-Baudiment 2009,Al-Sayyid 2009.
30
paradigms through which policy makers in the continent can understand the changing Africa and
the world around it. They need to generate research outputs that will help policy makers to
navigate and map out new visions for the continent. These research outputs should be clear and
understandable to policy makers so as to enable them to elaborate visions of improved African
futures and to explore the interventions necessary to move towards those visions.
Think tanks will need to also concentrate more on churning out endogenous, context-sensitive
and nationally and continentally relevant policy ideas so as to provide timely independent
perspectives and alternative solutions to different policy problems.
b) Capacity Building and Technical Support
Think Tanks can also play an active role in shaping African futures by building capacities of
policy makers or by grooming a new groom of policy makers that would have a required capacity
to act on policy recommendations. They can do this by creating research fellowships
opportunities for policy makers, whereby they allow them to spend a short period of time in the
think tank environment working with leading experts in certain policy areas. This can also be
institutionalized through official skills transferral exchange programmes between government
policy research units and think tanks.
Think tanks can also voluntary or upon requests, assist policy makers with technical support. This
can take various forms including helping them develop certain policy guidelines and doctrines.
This is already happening where certain think tanks are assisting the African Union (AU) Peace
Support Operations Division (PSOD) with the development of policy guidelines and doctrines for
the African Standby Force (ASF). The are also think tanks like the Institute for Security Studies,
who are assisting regional organizations like ECOWAS to develop their capacities around
conflict analysis and continental early warning systems. Through their capacity building and
technical support activities, think tanks can be able to, both directly and indirectly, influence
policy direction, thus shape possible alternatives.
c) Promotion, education and advocacy
31
Think tanks have a capacity to promote their work and reach out effectively to “those who
matter”- politicians, experts, bureaucrats and policy entrepreneurs.58 If they are to influence
decision making and shape future policies, they need to nicely package their research outputs
such as policy briefs, situation reports and policy papers and widely share them with the policy
community. When necessary, they can even design policy advocacy campaigns to influence
decisions during different policy life circles.
They need to reposition themselves as best ‘policy shops’ for ‘venue-shopping’ policy-makers.
They can do these through high-level conferences, seminars, research colloquiums, scenario
planning policy workshops, brainstorming sessions and other forms of convening, attended by
experts and decision makers with the aim of producing policy relevant outcomes.59 Their
seminars, research colloquiums should stimulate and promote policy debates on Africa’s possible
developmental paths and/or futures amongst African leadership, African policy makers, regional
and sub-regional organizations. They should also act as venues for policy-makers to build
understanding and consensus on policy issues.60 They should also act as platforms not only for
mutual learning and sharing.
Making the research outputs available for consideration by different policy actors in these
meetings could also increase their chances of influencing policies. They should also cater for the
broader public in their programming. They need to frame, define and introduce policy issues to
the public and to stimulate debates. Though public education and advocacy is not primarily their
terrain, think tanks should identify and optimally use opportunities to educate and inform
(through media briefings, commentary, editorials) the public about complex policy issues. If they
are to have relevance and have impact on policy decisions about the future, think tanks need to be
58 See Demeš Pavol The role of think tanks in shaping EU policies . 16 December 2009 (accessed on http://www.europesworld.org/NewEnglish/Home_old/CommunityPosts/tabid/809/PostID/1024/TheroleofthinktanksinshapingEUpolicies.aspx )
59SeeKeck,MargaretandSikkink,Kathryn,(1997)TransnationalIssueNetworksinInternationalPolitics,IthacaN.Y.,CornellUniversityPress.;OverseasDevelopmentCouncil—ODC(1999)“DialoguewithThinkTanks:AReportofAMeetingWiththeUnitedNationsSecretaryGeneral,”4‐5May,UnitedNationsHeadquarters,NewYork.AndWallace,William,(1994)“BetweenTwoWorlds:ThinkTanksandForeignPolicy,”inC.HillandP.Beshoff(eds.)TwoWorldsofInternationalRelations:Academics,PractitionersandtheTradeinIdeas,London,RoutledgeandLondonSchoolofEconomics:139‐163.
60 Ibid
32
actively involved throughout different stages (problem definition, issue framing, agenda setting,
implementation and evaluation).
d) Advisory Services
Think tank experts, usually with both public and private sector experience, have profound
knowledge on a number of policy issues. They should avail their expertise to African
governments by advising them on how to develop new policies, strategies and new approaches.,
how to deal with challenging governance and how to develop a set of policy scenarious.
Many African governments now have planning commissions and have established advisory
panels. As it is the case in South Africa, Namibia and Kenya, these structures are used to develop
for development of long-term strategies, visioning excercises and national scenarios development
(see South Africa’s Vision 2025 and Dinokeng Scenarious, Kenya Vision 2030 and Namibia’s
Vision 2030). If they are to shape African Futures, think tanks should really involve themselves
with such planning commissions and those visioning exercise processes. By so doing, they are
able to effect changes of mindset in corridors of power.
7. Conclusion
Today Africa is still grappling with lots of challenges. In the face of today and tomorrow’s
challenges, the continent will loose more than any region in the world. What is of a serious
concern is the fact that, little systematic attention has been paid to understand alternative African
futures. To a larger extent, this is so due to the limited capacity of African governments and their
economies. For so long, African governments have been dependent on policy solutions that are
not rooted on and are not informed by African realities.
In this regard, this necessitates a paradigm shift away from reliance and importation of ideas and
development models towards a focus on endogenous knowledge production, which think tanks
are in a business of doing. It also necessitates a renewed systematic reflection on the scope and
limits of the current development perspectives.
Even though the think tank sector in Africa is not so well developed as compared to that of the
developed, it is evident that, due to its expertise and capacities, it can have a meaningful role to
play not only in transforming the policy making process but also shaping African futures.
33
Africa’s complex challenges demand the best of intellectual capacities. Think tanks are potentially one of the best-suited organizations to develop innovative and advanced solutions to Africa’s challenges. They have a special role to play in shaoing African futures, both as knowledge providers and policy formulation partners. However the challenges still abounds. The challenge for the African governments and institutions is to harness the vast reservoir of knowledge, information, and innovative energy that exist in think-tanks. The sense of urgency for investing on strong innovation systems, knowledge production
infrastructure and on research and development (R&D) systems is even more critical now since
the world economy in the 21st century has been described as the knowledge economy. Knowledge
based economy means investments not only in education, innovation, research and development
but also in the think-tank sector. Endogenous models of financing for think tanks are needed. The
ACBF model discussed in this paper is the right step in a right direction.
Moving forward, think-tanks need to ready themselves for the growing demand of their services.
In addition, they also need to prepare themselves for providing a correct diagnosis and adequate
definition of new policy objectives and tasks. Apart from capacitating and advising the African
leadership and policy makers, formulating plausible hypotheses about possible African futures,
developing some future scenarios and churning out new ideas should be their main
preoccupation. Their responsibility should also be that of stimulating and promoting policy
debates on Africa’s possible developmental paths. The future agenda for African think tanks
should also be a development of ‘futurist community’ in the continent.
34
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