The South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) has been announced as a recipient of the Africa Think Tank Platform (ATTP) grant, which is designed to strengthen evidence-informed policymaking and accelerate the implementation of Agenda 2063.
The ATTP, a five-year, $50 million initiative, is funded by the World Bank Group and implemented by the AUC in partnership with the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) and the AU Development Agency–NEPAD (AUDA–NEPAD). Under the newly signed agreements, $24.2 million will be disbursed in phases to 13 leading African think tanks to support institutional capacity, collaborative research and policy-ready solutions for Africa’s most pressing cross-border challenges.
SAIIA joins the initiative as a core member of the BRIDGE Africa (Building Resilience and Impact through Dialogue and Galvanising Action for Evidence-Informed Policymaking) consortium. The Institute will work alongside the African Institute for Development Policy (AFIDEP), the Denis & Lenora Foretia Foundation and the Policy Center for the New South, under the coordination of the African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET).
Through the ATTP, think tanks will produce actionable policy evidence aligned with six strategic thematic areas: Economic Transformation and Governance; Regional Trade; Climate Change; Food Security; Human Capital Development; and Digitalisation.
SAIIA will lead the research agenda on climate change within the BRIDGE Africa consortium, focusing on scaling adaptation finance and developing green mineral value chains. The Institute will also contribute to the consortium’s objectives under the Regional Trade and Economic Transformation and Governance themes.
‘This funding allows SAIIA to deepen its work on critical levers of African development, from green mineral value chains to regional trade integration. By bridging the gap between research and actionable policy, we aim to provide African leaders with the tools needed to build economic resilience,’ said SAIIA chief executive Elizabeth Sidiropoulos. ‘We look forward to collaborating with our partners to drive the transformative change envisioned by the African Union.’
By fostering strategic collaborations, the ATTP aims to ensure that Africa’s policy landscape is shaped by local expertise. The initiative comprises three pan-African consortia:
- BRIDGE Africa, led by ACET (Ghana), with SAIIA (South Africa), AFIDEP (Kenya), the Foretia Foundation (Cameroon) and the Policy Center for the New South (Morocco).
- Research Alliance for Inclusive and Sustainable Economic Development (RAISED), led by the Economic Research Forum (Egypt), with the Partnership for Economic Policy (Kenya) and the Resource and Environmental Policy Research Centre (Nigeria).
- Consortium for Africa Cross-Border Evidence and Policy Sovereignty (CACEPS), led by the African Population and Health Research Centre (Kenya), with the Egyptian Centre for Economic Studies (Egypt), Centre for Population and Environmental Development (Nigeria), Centro de Integridade Pública (Mozambique) and Initiative Prospective Agricole et Rurale (Senegal).
Through the ATTP, SAIIA and its partners will generate the necessary evidence to assist the AUC, regional economic communities and member states in translating continental commitments into tangible national and regional outcomes.
For enquiries, contact:
- Goodwill Kachingwe, SAIIA ATTP Programme Head at goodwill.kachingwe@saiia.org.za.
