African regional economic policy-making: Understanding and catalysing the potentials of think tanks

Taylor P.; Oviedo M.A.O. · Development Policy Review (2025) · DOI: 10.1111/dpr.70019

Resumen

Motivation: As the demand for evidence to inform African regional economic policy-making grows, think tanks are facing a range of challenges that constrain their organizational sustainability. Recent initiatives offering more flexible support to African think tanks underscore the need for a deeper understanding of these critical knowledge actors and how best to enable and strengthen their work. Purpose: The article asks: how can the potential of African think tanks to support African regional economic policy-making be understood and catalysed? It examines ways in which evidence informs African regional economic policy-making processes and the potential roles for African think tanks; reflects on opportunities and constraints they face in shaping and informing regional policy; and on the extent to which different forms of support help them strengthen their contributions. Approach and methods: The article draws on grey and published literature, including experiences from the Think Tank Initiative (TTI), a 10-year programme of strengthening institutional research capacity for over 40 think tanks in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Findings: Demand for evidence by regional economic policy actors is increasing, alongside a growing appreciation of African think tanks as evidence providers, intermediaries, and key knowledge interlocutors. While long-term, flexible financial support to think tanks remains rare, funding that strengthens institutional resources, including infrastructure and research management, seems crucial in supporting long-term, sustained programmes of Africa-led research on priorities identified in the continent. Policy implications: African think tanks play critical roles in generating evidence for use in national and regional policy-making, by conducting rigorous and impartial research through partnerships characterized by integrity, trust, respect, and equity. They help counter forces that are ill-informed or seek to curtail or derail democratic public policy-making, adoption, and implementation. By facilitating engagement with a wide range of stakeholders around policy issues, they greatly improve the likelihood of evidence uptake and use.