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8/12/2019 Roles of think Tanks in Africa
1/23
Think Tanks in Africa Catalysts for
Ideas and Action?
ByFrannie A. LEAUTIER
Partner and CEOMkoba Private Equity
I. Panorama of Think Tanks in Africa
II. How do African Think Tanks Catalyze Change?
III. Illustrations and Examples
IV. Emerging Challenge for Think Tanks
V. Think Tanks and the missing middle
Outline
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I. Panorama of Think Tanks in Africa
Presence: Africa has 554 think tanks and only4 countries have none (Comoros, Djibouti,Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tome and Principe)
Evolution: think tanks have evolved into adiverse set of entities with varying influenceover the last 50 years
Benchmark: there are as many countries inAfrica with 10 or more think tanks as they arein Western Europe
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Panorama: Mediators
Forums fordebate and
exchangeof ideas
Government
PrivateSector
ExternalStakeholders
Public
Staff strength and
convening power
Several African TTs featured
in Top 80 on internationaldevelopment;
Few in international
economic policy, domestic
economic policy, and public
engagement
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Panorama: Trusted Advisors
EmergingIssues
StubbornChallenges
AnnouncedPriorities
ResearchProducts
No think tank in Africa was labeled
by the Upenn assessment as being
affiliated with a political party.
What changes will the political
democratization of Africa bring?
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Panorama: Transformers
InstitutionalStrengthening
Statistics and Data(CAMERCAP)
TA toGovernment
Tax Policy and TaxAdministration(CERCAP)
LeadershipDevelopment
Fellowships,Internships andMentorship(KIPPRA)
MeasuringCD
IDEAS
Domesticrevenues
PROBLEMSMunicipalleaders
POLICIES
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Panorama: Independent Thinkers
Breaking free of influence Independent opinions
on critical issues
Informed analysis of
contested ideas Space for public debate
on important themes
Courses, seminars andworkshops on variety of
little-known issues
None of the best TTs in Africa citedfor political affiliations but many
dependent on external aid or
single large donor
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II. How do African Think Tanks Catalyze Change?
Inside-out: people, products, spaces
Outside-in: networks, institutions, results
&
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The Change Model Inside-Out
Spaces
Products
People
Critical mass of talented
people
Network of influentialcontacts
Alumni of training and
other programs
Quality research and
data inputs
Effective information
sharing platforms
Physical space to
bring people
together
Digital space to
reach out
Moral authority to
convene
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The Change Model Outside-In
Influential
Network
StrategicInstitutions
Strengthened
Capacity toExecute &
Achieve Results
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III. Illustrations and Examples
Learning from evaluation of ACBF supported
think tanks:
Examples from ACBF models and efforts
Demonstrated impact
Overall achievements
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Examples from ACBF Models & Efforts Supporting TTs
Example of Efforts
Use of TTs in own work(ACI) on agriculture (agri-
business and agro-
processing, natural
resource management)
PIC Forum to learn and
share
Linking TTs to other
networks (AAU)
Working in partnership
with top rated TTs globally
(4 out of 30) Attracting private sector
financingCoca Cola and
AMICAAL in Swaziland
Lessons for Founders & Funders
Concentration: only AERC made it into top 10O
worldwide ranking--threat to ownership of the
policy design and command of policy
implementation
Autonomy: independence from budgetary and
political cycles allows TTs to stretch beyond issues
of the moment and embrace gaps and omissions
Patience: sustained support & attention to issues
of capacity is key, it allows innovation and impact
Local knowledge: solutions organically grown
from local environment requires first rate
indigenous research, analysis and design, and
linking TTs to universities Space for change: processes that facilitate
learning, innovation lead to original solutions
role for social media
On the job learning: peers learning from each
other in real practical settings
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TT Staff Strength
Institutions
Strengthened TA to Govt Leaders trained Policy Studies
Courses,
workshops,
seminars
CAPOD 12 40 3 35 13 23
IDEC 20 3 1 8 20 5
CAMERCAP 7 43 0 0 5 45
EEA/EEPRI 36 25 3 0 10 20
KIPPRA 54 7 24 577 81 83
CERCAP 17 38 32 174 10 21
CMAP 13 0 0 0 11 6
CAPED 12 10 6 77 10 2
CEPOD 22 18 20 10 13 14
EPRC 5 8 5 85 40 10
Full service TT Focus on Institutional
Strengthening
Varied contribution to
Government vs Others
Leadership with skills
and access to ideas
Regular skills
updates
TA to support skills
gaps in Government
Case I: ACBF Supported Think Tanks
Synergies & Value for Money: Demonstrated Impact of TTs
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Case I: ACBF Supported Think Tanks
Synergies & Value for Money: Overall Achievements
Indicator Total Average per
Think Tank
Total number of staff 316 15
Number of institutions strengthened 256 12
Number of technical assistance to government
agencies
110 5
Number of leaders trained 973 45
Number of policy studies, research completed 321 15
Number of policy studies, research
commissioned by Government
152 7
Number of publications disseminated 206 10
Number of short courses organized 92 5
Number of workshops/seminars organized 202 10
Source: Extracted from ACIR, 2013
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IV. Emerging Challenges for Think Tanks
Autonomy and independence: political context inAfrica is changing and influencing the creation,development, influence and impact of think tanks
Competition: amongst think tanks, withuniversities and with the private sector on policyresearch and advice to government
Shifting aid paradigm: impact investing, socialentrepreneurs, individual philanthropy
Results versus impact debate: deliveringmeasurable goals or transforming society in thelong term and related trade offs
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Autonomy & Independence: Share of
Government Commissioned Work
E
E
A
/
E
E
P
R
I
K
I
PP
R
A
C
E
R
C
AP
C
E
P
O
D
C
AM
E
R
C
A
P
10% 38% 70% 85% 100%
l l
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0
50
100
020 32
24
3
100
85
70
38
10
TA to Govt
%Govt Commissioned
Balancing Relevance & Autonomy:
TA vs. Government Commissioned Work
Low on Advisory
High on Commissioned
Low on Advisory
Low on Commissioned
High on Advisory
High on Commissioned
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Competition: Rise of the Educonsulting Business
The African Challengers: Global
Competitors Emerge from the Overlooked
Continent
Lions on the Move: The Progress andPotential of African Economies
Building bridges: Ernst & Youngs 2012
Attractiveness Survey on Africa
African Development (by country and
topics)
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Shifting Aid Paradigm: New Modalities
Impact Investing
Rockefeller Foundation and
JP Morgan: Impact
InvestmentsAn EmergingAsset Class
The Rockefeller Foundation
and the Tony Elumelu
Foundation Launch the
Impact Economy Innovation
Fund in Cape Town in April
2013
PPP and Think Tanks
PEInternational Think Tank and
its feature of Jacana Partners,
a pan-African PE form with
$75 million in new funds for
SMEs
EUACC, the EU Africa Chamber
of Commerce which aims to
share added value informationon business practices in Africa
and organize conferences and
workshops on various topics
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Results Versus Impact: Bridging the Difference
Catalytic role: increase in the rateof a reaction to an idea due to theparticipation of a catalyst (thinktank)
Path dependency: the path ofchange since intervention of theagent (think tank)
Change agent: changed focus by
debate, behavior by role modeling,systems and processes by trainingand technical assistance
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V. African Think Tanks and the missing middle
Missing Middle Rosy projections hide challenges:
Huge pent up demand --more than 85% of SMEs need finance
Opportunity Space Higher capital deployment (cumulative investments to cumulative fundraising for PE)
Significantly underserved PE environment, less efficient than other emerging markets
PE markets make up less than 0.1% of SSAsaggregate GDP. India and Brazil 4-7 times
PE could provide SMEs with capital, advisory services, knowledge transfer
Role of Think Tanks Very few think tanks in Africa work in this space
SME Think Tank on Twitter available to Africa
China-Africa TTs Forum put a lot of attention on supporting SMEs
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Policy role for Think Tanks in PE for SMEs
Types of Policies
Policies for domestic revenue mobilization,
fiscal & monetary management, and financialsector policies to prepare for increased globalexposure
Policies to bridge skill gaps in banking,finance, accounting, legal structuring, andinvestment management
Policies to enhance regulatory environmentthat underpins good performance of SMEs
Trade finance policies to create markets forSME produced products
Public spending policies to to channelinvestments to top priorities (cities, transport,
energy, health and education) Policies to enhance regional labour markets
for local talent to move across countries
Nature of Engagement
Complexity and change:
seek policies for long-termshifts in behavior, skills,attitudes & motivations,processes & practices, rules& norms (formal & informal)
Interactions: adjust policydesign & implementation toaccommodate interactionswith new products &services, technology &change
Context: relevance ofstarting points and role of
history and aspirations andexpectations. Highly localresearch but dependent onlong-distance (global) effects
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Lessons from Experience: Choices for Think Tanks
Areas to focus onfor research,analysis and study
Dialogue andimplementationarrangements
Policies for effectivetransformation andchange
Differentiate
Critical interfaceslike gender, privatesector, parliaments,regional integration
Policies for regionalpublic goodssustainability
Policies for riskmanagement,uncertainty,recovery andresilience
Collaborate
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