Roles of think Tanks in Africa

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


2/23

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


3/23

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


4/23

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?


5/23

Panorama: Transformers

InstitutionalStrengthening

Statistics and Data(CAMERCAP)

TA toGovernment

Tax Policy and TaxAdministration(CERCAP)

LeadershipDevelopment

Fellowships,Internships andMentorship(KIPPRA)

MeasuringCD

IDEAS

Domesticrevenues

PROBLEMSMunicipalleaders

POLICIES


6/23

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


7/23

II. How do African Think Tanks Catalyze Change?

Inside-out: people, products, spaces

Outside-in: networks, institutions, results

&


8/23

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


9/23

The Change Model Outside-In

Influential

Network

StrategicInstitutions

Strengthened

Capacity toExecute &

Achieve Results


10/23

III. Illustrations and Examples

Learning from evaluation of ACBF supported

think tanks:

Examples from ACBF models and efforts

Demonstrated impact

Overall achievements


11/23

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


12/23

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


13/23

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


14/23

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


15/23

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


16/23

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


17/23

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)


18/23

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


19/23

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


20/23

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


21/23

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


22/23

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


23/23

Documents

Roles of think Tanks in Africa