The Initiative
The Think Africa Partnership (TAP) is a multi-donor Trust Fund and the Africa Regions’ flagship trust fund translating knowledge into economic policy action.
Governments across Sub-Saharan Africa are demanding a new approach and more support in bridging the gap between researchers and policymakers. In 2017, the World Bank’s Africa region created TAP to take advantage of this opportunity to better connect evidence and policy.
The Think Africa Partnership aims to supports economic transformation and growth via better uptake of policy-relevant knowledge and data. To attain this goal, the initiative is bringing together an exceptional network of African young professionals, scholars and universities, domestic and regional 'knowledge to policy' think tanks, and a network of over 40 Chief Economic Advisors to Heads of State to over 40 countries throughout sub-Saharan Africa.
Reinforcing home-grown and home-owned economic policy solutions, TAP nurtures exceptional African talent, strengthening debate and deliberation inside and outside of government and building a pipeline of reformers among African development professionals and economists.
Amplify the voice of African scholarship
The Think Africa Partnership amplifies cutting-edge research and evidence for Africa’s economic transformation via collaborative research efforts with African researchers and groups such as the African Economic Research Consortium.
With greater engagement and participation of African scholars, TAP helps ensure that their work reaches the hands of policy-makers and others engaged in the policy design and deliberation process. TAP is also aiming to increase the representation of female researchers and economists in Africa, by implementing a new gender-sensitive approach to talent development and network building.
- AERC Visiting Scholars Program: This program provides competitive research fellowship grants to support the collaboration of African scholars, World Bank researchers, and partner institutions in strengthening research papers and core teaching curriculum. The program is administered in partnership with the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC).
- Africa Fellows Program: The WBG Africa Fellowship Program targets young talented African nationals who are completing or recently completed a Ph.D. in an area relevant to the World Bank’s work. Since its inception in 2015, the fellowship program has been successful in building a strong pipeline of young African talent interested in a career working on development economics in international institutions, African governments, think tanks, and academia. The Program offers fellows a six-month assignment at World Bank Group (WBG) offices in Washington D.C. or in country offices. Fellows gain hands-on experience in the operations of the WBG and are prepared for a recruitment path in the competitive WB Young Professionals (YP) Program.
Support Regional and Domestic Knowledge Platforms:
TAP also works to strengthen the knowledge capacity of Africa-based regional and domestic think tanks through interactive policy dialogues, research to policy events, and peer learning.
To support the implementation of the G20 Compact with Africa, our regional partner the African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET) based in Accra, Ghana, hosts CwA peer-learning events in collaboration with governments and international institutions. Through its annual African Transformation Forums, ACET also offers a unique opportunity to the private sector and other non-state actors to engage directly with ministers and policy makers to help shape the course of economic transformation in Africa. Building upon the private sector orientation of the CwA, ACET is increasingly building capacity to support Private Sector Development, both with governments and the private sector.
Building the Bridge to Policy Impact: The Chief Economists of Government Initiative (CEoG)
The Chief Economists of Government initiative is a peer network of over 40 chief economic advisors to heads of the executive across more than 40 African countries. The initiative works to strengthen the effectiveness and capacity of chief economic advisors and their teams, as they provide policy perspectives, supported by data and analysis, to inform policy priorities for the head of the executive. For more information please visit https://www.africaceog.org/