To inform, engage & equip African policymakers by addressing gaps in foreign and public policy through analysis, opinion research, data mining, and informed public discourse focused on African-centered solutions.
The Africa Center for Strategy & Policy is the first policy think tank to adopt a genuinely African-centered approach to African foreign & regional policy research. We shape public policy in Africa at the international and regional levels in a way that works for ordinary Africans.
The Africa Center for Strategy & Policy has a simple but clear mandate –Maintain credible public opinion research centers in Africa’s leading cities. Continue to shape and contribute to African foreign & domestic policy by way of superior research and analysis. Continuing to be an indispensable voice on foreign and regional policy issues in Africa, representing all sub-regions and engaging all 54 African countries. Working with Africa, not on Africa.
Who we are and what we do:
The Africa Center for Strategy & Policy is a non-partisan think tank focusing on African foreign and regional policy. We conduct policy-relevant studies, public opinion research and data analysis, identifying gaps in scholarship & policymaking through but not limited to the following program areas: Security & Intelligence Policy Lab, Youth, Gender & Vulnerability Policy Lab, Resource, Environment & Energy Policy Lab, African Political Economy Policy Lab, Leadership & Governance Policy Lab, and Foreign Policy & Diaspora Studies Lab.
We complement the work of seasoned data-collection institutions by focusing on specific populations in the African diaspora and on the continent. Our targeted groups include but are not limited to youth, scholars, students, experts, academics, vulnerable persons, migrants, immigrants, and practitioners
Three primary imperatives guide our mission and vision:
- Narrative change: highlighting positives trends, increase awareness & visibility, and recognize Africa as an opportunity rather than a threat.
- Youth engagement: bridging the gap between policy, leadership, and young people through data gathering, and informed public discourse.
- Scholarship development: enhance emerging scholarship, contribute to high-quality scholarship and policy analysis through data collection, and exchange of resources with global partners.
Through public opinion research, policy analysis, and advocacy, the Africa Center for Strategy & Policy seeks to achieve these imperatives by:
- Identifying & understanding priorities and informing policymakers, stakeholders, and organizations working in Africa to effectively address challenges.
- Enhancing government and institutional capacity by understanding African perspectives, bridging the divide between policymakers and Africans — and the policy processes that shape their lives.
- Identifying, understanding, and bridging the resource gap in scholarship—between Africans and their international counterparts.
- Identifying and understanding differences among African scholarship at home and the diaspora and between ethnic Africanist scholarship, and non-ethnic Africanist scholarship.
- Conducting opinion polls and data collection to drive policy analysis, debates and events concerning shifting attitudes in both Africa and the diaspora.
Interdisciplinary Data Gathering & Analysis
Our public opinion gathering & analysis program is an important component of the Africa Center for Strategy & Policy. We take a multi-thematic and interdisciplinary approach to data collection and policy analysis. The program is sub-structured into various analysis Labs directed by experts. Our focus areas include economics, security, peace, ethics, governance & leadership, environmental policy, and education. We separate facts from opinions. We do so by collecting and understanding public opinion data.
We engage practitioners, scholars, governments, the private sector, civil society, and our members in open conversations, discussions, and lectures about the most significant trends in African affairs. Each year, the Africa Center for Strategy & Policy organizes a series of events – panel debates, conferences, lectures, and interviews. We attract world leaders and the best analysts in their respective fields from across the globe.
The Africa Center for Strategy & Policy maintains the African Public Discourse (APD) as a flagship program for public discourse. The objective is to purposefully engage with the public on pressing issues facing the continent while providing a platform for researchers to showcase policy work and to facilitate networking for Africans in the diaspora. The African Public Discourse advances critical-thinking and evidence-driven conversations in African public life. APD provides a platform for engaging Africans with the policy process that shapes their lives, both at home and abroad.
As advocates for informed policy formulation and implementation, we address a wide range of issues from environmental policy, security to peace and development. Our advocacy is guided by evidence and tailored to address local problems and empower grassroot communities—working with Africa, not on Africa. Based on facts, we provide new ideas and proposals on how best to confront challenges and opportunities from the near to the long-term. Policy recommendations are developed based on the analysis of expert researchers. We connect analysis and policy prescription with African policy makers.
