Creating a Sustainable Future for African Think Tanks in Support of Agenda 2063 and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Preamble
1. We, the African think tanks, have met in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, on April 8-9, 2016 in the framework of the Third Africa Think Tank Summit. As we conclude our 2016 Summit on the theme “Creating a Sustainable Future for African Think Tanks in Support of Agenda 2063 and SDGs”, we would like to express our deepest and sincere appreciation to the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) for organizing this Summit in partnership with the African Union Commission (AUC), the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).
2. We note the convergence of Agenda 2063 and Agenda 2030 and the importance of building the necessary capacity for their effective implementation. This is because despite over a decade-long history of development planning, many African countries continue to experience challenges in designing, implementing and monitoring their development planning frameworks.
3. We also note that think tanks would play a critical role in supporting the continental and global agendas through their support to evidence policy design, implementation and monitoring based on their research and analysis; their capacity development activities for state and non-state actors and through their provision of platforms for stakeholder engagement and dialogue and advocacy.
4. We therefore reiteratethe need for pan African institutions including the Africa Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), African Union Commission, UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), African Development Bank (AfDB) as well as African countries to involve think tanks in their decision making processes through provision of development/economic intelligence around development planning and domesticating of the Agendas. This is critical for the successful implementation of the Agendas and achieving structural transformation in the continent.
5. We note that the key challenge facing many think tanks within the continent has to do with their sustainability and the diversity of their source of funding. Therefore, the resource mobilization capacity of Africa’s think thanks needs to be strengthened.
African think tanks and the domestication of Agenda 2063 and Agenda 2030
6. We recognize that thinks tanks can and should play an important role in actively engaging and developing methodologies to guide member states in integrating Agenda 2063 and Agenda 2030 in their national planning frameworks. The AUC should provide Guidelines and toolkits that could promote standardized methods of integration of the global and regional agendas and enhance cross country comparisons of performance.
7. We reaffirm that think tanks should contribute to the analytical work around the inter-linkages across the global and African Agendas’ goals and targets and identifying the areas of convergence and divergence that need attention.
8. We reiterate that successful implementation of Agendas 2063 and 2030 must be supported by the think tanks and underpinned by evidenced-based policy-making, including evaluating the interactions between economic, social and environmental policies through policy simulations, ex-ante and ex-poste impact studies, and compiling the datasets needed for further work in this area.
9. We note that think tanks can enrich the monitoring and evaluation of both Agendas 2063 and 2030 based on their respective areas of expertise. Monitoring and evaluating progress of both Agendas will be vital in ensuring that corrective actions are taken to keep implementation on the right track.
Sustainability of think tanks: capacities, networks and partnership
10. We recognize that think tanks can fully carry out their role in supporting the implementation of Agenda 2063 and Agenda 2030 only if they have the necessary capacities and resources, and are able to effectively channel well-packaged, relevant, timely and quality outputs to policymakers.
11. We reaffirm our conviction that the sustainability of African think tanks begins with the quality of its soft, human, institutional and leadership capacities. We, therefore, undertake to work towards the strengthening of their capacities through networking, partnership and exchange programs and trainings. Moreover, we agree on having think tanks innovative use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in communicating their research work and reaching out to policy makers.
12. We encourage African think tanks to make more effective use of their interactions using platforms such as the Africa Think Tank Network (ATTN) and Africa Think Tank Summits.
13. We also reaffirmthat the Africa Think Tank Summit should be institutionalized and organized regularly on a yearly basis to get African think tanks the opportunity to discuss their common issues together with the potential solutions, exchange knowledge, ideas and best practices, build stronger networks and partnerships, peer-learn, monitor and evaluate their impact in the delivery of the two Agendas.
14. We strongly commit ourselves to support the implementation of Agenda 2063 and Agenda 2030, while creating a sustainable future for our respective think tanks. We are also committed to collectively share best practices, enhance partnerships, networking and synergies in the spirit of pan-Africanism.
15. We welcomed the creation, on November 12, 2015, of the Africa Think Tank Network (ATTN) by ACBF. We acknowledge that the launch of the ATTN is considered as a first and important step towards the effective implementation of the recommendations of the Africa Think Tank Summits. Moreover, the establishment of the ATTN is a critical step to the isolationist tendencies within the think tanks’ community.
16. We reaffirm our conviction that the sustainability of African think tanks is ultimately the responsibility of Africans themselves. It is therefore crucial that think tanks not only serve the public sector but also private sector without neglecting other potential contributors such as international partners and civil society.
Moving forward
17. We express our profound concern that the resources allocated by donors to African think tanks are shrinking along the years. We therefore stress the need to build our individual and collective capacities towards our sustainable existence and call upon AUC, NEPAD, ACBF, UNECA and other supporters of think tanks to help in mobilizing resources towards building this essential capacity in order to sustainably and effectively contribute to the successful implementation of Agenda 2063 and Agenda 2030.
18. We call for continued support to ACBF and other supporters of think tanks to enable them create new think tanks where needed, strengthen the capacities of existing ones and ensure that platforms such as the Africa Think Tank Summits are organized and networks sustained.
19. We resolve to support ACBF to continue providing leadership in coordinating our efforts towards staying engaged and working together in order to efficiently contribute in tackling Africa’s development challenges and ensure our sustainability.
Presented today on 9 April at Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe
