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This article was written by the African Center for Equitable Development (ACED) as part of the publication of the 2024 On Think Tanks State of the Sector Report. Explore the report and resources here.
African Think Tanks (ATTs) are crucial in supporting sustainable development in the continent, by informing policy formulation and implementation. However, they face the challenge of operating within a complex and ever-changing socio-political environment, which makes their work more difficult. For ATTs to succeed in shaping policy and promoting sustainable development, they must tackle key challenges that impact their capacity, legitimacy, and credibility.
The 2017 Africa Think Tank Summit report identified four main challenges to realising a sustainable future for Africa’s Think Tanks: funding, independence, capacity, impact, and effective engagement with policymakers and the public. As part of the 2024 global report on the State of Think Tanks, 40 ATTs explored these challenges and shared insights on the key factors shaping their ability to support development policies.
Download the On Think Tanks State of Sector Report 2024
African Think Tanks and Political Context
ATTs generally perceive a degree of openness in the political environment in which they operate. Indeed, about 71.7% of ATTs reported having independence in conducting and publishing research. However, around 30% acknowledge that political conditions have negatively impacted their operations over the past 12 months. Governments’ tolerance for criticism hinders their operations. Most ATTs (76.9%) that reported challenges in maintaining operation independence are registered as non-profit organisations, suggesting that this legal status may be perceived as lacking legitimacy or raising suspicion.
Financial Capacity of African Think Tanks
There is a significant disparity in the financial capacity of ATTs (Figure 1). Last year, about two-thirds of ATTs, mobilised less than USD 500,000, including 40% with less than USD 100,000. With funding duration varying between 2 and 4 years, the annual budget of most ATTs is low. During last year, only 44.7% of ATTs reported an increase in funding, with 5.26% experiencing a significant rise, while about 34% reported a decrease. This is an extremely critical issue for ATTs’ survival, as the low financial capacity will not only affect the functioning and operation of ATTs but also impact the quality of their support and, in fact, their relevance and credibility.
Figure 1. ATTs and resource mobilisation (in USD) for the last year. (State of Think Tank sector 2024, OTT)
Funding remains a critical challenge, with four-fifths of ATT leaders acknowledging difficulties due to limited financial resources. Most organisations depend on project-based funding, which hampers their long-term sustainability.
Africa Think Tanks and Digital Revolution
Artificial Intelligence (AI) usage by ATTs is very low across research, administrative tasks, and communications. For research, 34.2% use AI occasionally, and 28.9% use it frequently, though only 5.2% use it consistently. Administrative tasks see less frequent use, with 34.2% using AI rarely and 26.3% frequently. In communications and marketing, 39.4% use AI occasionally, with limited consistent adoption (5.2%). Overall, the occasional use of AI is the most common trend across all areas. There is significant room for improvement, especially in the consistent and full integration of AI, which could enhance the efficiency and policy impact of ATTs.
Figure 2. Use of artificial intelligence by Think Tanks for different tasks (State of Think Tank sector 2024, OTT)
African Think Tanks and Independence of Actions
Numerous stakeholders influence the research and policy priorities of ATTs. The surveyed ATTs acknowledged that their agendas are primarily influenced by funders and government entities and, to a lesser extent, by civil society organisations and academic institutions. Funders influence the agenda of ATTs through the funding priority areas and interests. As for the government entities, they shape the agenda of ATTs through their vision of development and related issues and polarisation. About 60% of ATTs indicated they are sensitive to polarisation issues, which drive their operations.
African Think Tanks and Engagement with Policymakers, the Public, and Others
Effective engagement across sectors and with various actors is essential for increasing impact. Most ATTs (85%) engage primarily with the public sector and then with civil society organisations (45%) and academic institutions (35%). In the public sector, 95% of ATTs are involved in policymaking in different roles (i.e., advisory, consultation, collaboration). About 89.4% of ATTs reported directly contributing to specific public policies in the last five years. With the public, ATTs work with civil society organisations to address community development priorities and advocate for change. ATTs work with academic institutions to generate evidence.
Measuring the Impact of African Think Tanks
The right indicator of ATTs’ impact should be the improved quality of policies and practices resulting from their support. However, tracking this impact is difficult. As a result, ATTs rely on proxy measures such as media presence (42.5%) and funding diversity (59%) as key indicators of success. Despite this, only one-third of ATTs dedicate significant resources to boosting their media visibility or maintaining a diverse funding base. As ATTs’ ability to generate impact is strongly linked to their capacity for effective communication and collaboration with policymakers, they should invest more in these dimensions.
African Think tank and human resources
In a commentary titled “The Crisis of African Think Tanks: Challenges and Solutions”, which was posted in 2017, the author assumed that:
“The quality of outputs from some African think tanks is sometimes below recognised global standards, thus threatening sustainability. Some think tanks struggle to produce work that aligns with global standards for quality. This is usually the result of a limited quantity and quality of well-trained scholars, communication and development professionals, and think tank leaders and administrators. Retention is also a major problem as staff members often leave a few years after training to get better-paid positions at other organisations such as international institutions, foundations, and the private sector.”
This challenge persists today. About 42.4% of ATTs acknowledge a critical shortage of skilled staff. Additionally, staff turnover is a significant issue, with more than half of ATTs retaining their talented staff after capacity reinforcement. To address this challenge, ATTs should create more incentives (i.e., Salary, work conditions, etc.) to attract and retain talents. At the same time, they should adopt a more innovative and flexible staffing approach, such as contracting new African PhD graduates from North universities.
