The Think 20 African Standing Group (ASG) was launched formally in May 2017 by the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE), the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), and the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (Ifw). It was inspired by the need to galvanise greater focus on Africa by the G20 but also to mobilise more African think tanks to follow and to engage on global economic governance issues. At the Annual Meeting of the T20 Africa Standing Group in 2018 members agreed to create a platform that would track G20 initiatives in Africa. In subsequent meetings it was decided that the first step would be outlining a baseline against which the future decisions and actions of the G20 and their impact on the African continent would be measured. Infrastructure development was selected as the first focus area for the monitor since it was a key objective of the G20 and the Sustainable Development Goals. Infrastructure is also a priority of the African Union and its Agenda 2063. The baseline, developed by the South African Institute of International Affairs is built on the following existing monitors that track and promote infrastructure development in Africa.
