{"id":2852285,"date":"2025-09-16T05:09:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T10:09:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/?p=2852285"},"modified":"2025-09-16T13:15:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T18:15:14","slug":"decoding-african-think-tanks-power-society","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/articles\/decoding-african-think-tanks-power-society\/","title":{"rendered":"Allies, obstacles, or audience? Decoding African think tanks’ complex dance with power and society"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the arena of ideas, African think tanks (TTs) are not solitary actors. Far from ivory towers, they operate on a crowded stage where governments, funders, media, and policymakers shape the rhythm. Every interaction is a step, every report a new piece of choreography\u00b9.<\/p>\n

But what is the nature of this dance? Are these actors, allies<\/em> who support their mission, obstacles<\/em> who impede their path, or simply an audience<\/em> to be persuaded? Our latest analysis of the State of Sector Survey 2025\u2014which gathered responses from 48 TTs across Africa\u2014enriched by ACED\u2019s experience in West Africa, suggests they are often all three at once, requiring constant strategic agility from think tanks.<\/p>\n

Download the On Think Tanks State of the Sector Report 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

1. The ally: A partnership of necessity<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Think tanks aim to serve as allies of governments, providing evidence to inform better policy. This alliance appears effective and fruitful, as 71% of African think tanks believe their actions have directly influenced public policy over the last five years.<\/p>\n

Yet, the agenda is often shaped by others. A \u201cdominant power bloc\u201d of governments (27%) and international organisations (23%) drives research priorities (Figure 1).<\/p>\n

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Figure 1: Ranking of Actors driving the research and policy agenda. <\/em>Source<\/em>: OTT Survey, 2025<\/em><\/p>\n

The influence of the latter is particularly tied to funding. The availability of funds inevitably shapes research priorities. The partner, then, also becomes the sponsor, and the dance of influence is performed to a melody not always of the think tank’s own choosing.<\/p>\n

The ally is real, but the relationship is asymmetrical\u2014a partnership of necessity where autonomy is constantly being negotiated.<\/p>\n

2. The obstacle: navigating a political minefield<\/strong><\/h3>\n

While the dance can be collaborative, the stage itself is often a hostile environment. The greatest obstacle to the work of think tanks is not a lack of ideas, but the nature of the political climate in which they operate.<\/p>\n

The figures are stark: 37% of organisations in Africa consider the political climate unfavourable or very unfavourable, compared to only 25% who find it favourable. The primary culprit is political polarisation, which 67% of think tanks say has a moderate to very strong impact on their work. It has concrete, paralysing consequences: it hinders collaboration with other experts (19%), limits the ability to secure diverse funding (17%), and impedes the dissemination of research (15%). \u00a0Figure 2 below illustrates this point.<\/p>\n

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Figure 2: Impact of political polarisation. Source : OTT Survey, 2025<\/em><\/p>\n

As an illustration, our organisation had been developing a research project for over a year in collaboration with government authorities, under the leadership of a sectoral technical directorate and a ministry. But once leadership changed and the new team was invited to participate, the process stalled. We faced a wall of silence and had to formally request an audience to clarify several issues before collaboration could resume. This project, designed to generate evidence to inform public policy, had been suspended simply due to shifting political dynamics and misunderstanding.<\/p>\n

In such contexts, the government, once a potential ally in setting the agenda, can quickly become an obstacle. Even the simple act of publishing critical research may be falsely perceived as partisan, closing doors to dialogue and exposing organisations to risk. The dance then becomes a perilous exercise on a minefield, where each step must be carefully measured to avoid turning a partner into an adversary.<\/p>\n

3. The audience: Capturing attention in a crowded room<\/strong><\/h3>\n

A think tank’s impact depends on its ability to captivate and persuade an audience. On this front, the news is surprisingly positive. 86% of think tanks report good access to media, which amplifies their reach to both policymakers and the public. From our experience, operating across different countries, media engagement looks brighter. In one case, even in a country where a new government had come to power following a coup, we faced no barriers to inviting national television to cover the launch workshop of a project.<\/p>\n

The real audience, however, is decision-makers. Encouragingly, the same 71% who claim policy influence show that when the choreography is well executed, the message lands. The independence claimed by 65% of think tanks is a key factor in establishing their credibility. It is precisely because they are perceived as autonomous and \u2018\u2019constructive\u2019\u2019 actors that their voice carries weight.<\/p>\n

The art of strategic choreography<\/strong><\/h3>\n

So, are they allies, obstacles, or an audience? The reality is that centres of power are all three at once. A government can be an ally in co-creating an agenda, an obstacle through the political pressure it exerts, and an audience for the final recommendations. A funder is a financial ally but can become an obstacle to intellectual autonomy.<\/p>\n

The success of African think tanks, therefore, depends not on their ability to avoid powerful actors but on their mastery of this complex choreography. It is about knowing when to lead, when to follow, when to innovate, and when to protect oneself. It is the art of maintaining one’s integrity while remaining deeply engaged in the dance of power. The survival and impact of African think tanks will always depend on their skill as dancers.<\/p>\n

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1. \u2018\u2019choreography\u2019\u2019 is used as a metaphor. It means the way African think tanks strategically manage their relationships with powerful actors (governments, funders, media, policymakers).<\/em><\/p>\n

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This blog is part of the State of the Sector 2025 regional analysis series<\/a>, contributed by our partners to share perspectives from their own contexts.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the arena of ideas, African think tanks (TTs) are not solitary actors. Far from ivory towers, they operate on a crowded stage where governments, funders, media, and policymakers shape the rhythm. Every interaction is a step, every report a new piece of choreography\u00b9. But what is the nature of this dance? Are these actors, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[207,820,335,181,3600],"class_list":["post-2852285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-africa","tag-partnerships","tag-policy-influence","tag-politics-and-context","tag-state-of-the-sector-report","article-types-case-study","people-ariel-houessou","people-claudia-tchobo","people-frejus-thoto","people-rodrigue-castro-gbedomon","series-state-of-the-sector-2025","theme-governance-and-management","theme-understanding-think-tanks"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2852285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2852285"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2852285\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2852464,"href":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2852285\/revisions\/2852464"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2852285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2852285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}