A workshop to formally launch an African Policy Institutes Forum (APIF) was held on 15-16 November 2004 in Harare, Zimbabwe by the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF). The two-day workshop effectively established APIF as a continental knowledge network whose core mandate is to promote knowledge generation, dissemination and sharing among African applied policy research centers and specialized training institutions and also provide a platform for the review of leading issues in development, including capacity building with a view to strengthening the development process on the continent.

Dr. Soumana Sako, Executive Secretary, ACBF

The launch of APIF was attended by a number of dignitaries who included the Director of Africa Department at the IMF, Mr. Abdoulaye Bio-Tchane, who presented a keynote address on behalf of the First Managing Director, Prof. Anne Krueger; the Speaker of Parliament, Zimbabwe, Hon. Emmerson D. Mnanagagwa, who chaired the opening ceremony; Hon. Hage Geingob, ex-Prime Minister of Namibia and until recently the Executive Secretary of Global Coalition for Africa; Mr. Bassary Toure, ex-Executive Director of the World Bank and until recently Minister of Finance, Mali; the Minister for Anti-Corruption and Anti-Monopolies in the Office of the President, Zimbabwe, Hon. Didymus Mutasa; the Minister for Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Hon. Paul Mangwana; the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, Dr. Gideon Gono; the Clerk of Parliament, Zimbabwe; members of the diplomatic corps who included the Belgian, Canadian, Swedish, Norwegian, French, Ethiopian, and Indian Ambassadors to Zimbabwe. On the resource persons list were Prof. Paul Collier, Director, Centre for the Study of African Economies and ex-Director of Research, Africa Region, the World Bank; Dr. Stephen Browne, Principal Advisor, Bureau for Development Policy, UNDP; Prof. Milton Ame Iyoha, Head, Department of Economics, University of Benin; Dr. Nicholas Gorjestani, Senior Adviser and Chief Knowledge and Learning Officer, Africa Region, the World Bank, among others. A total of 80 participants, made up of policy research institutes, specialized training centres, development managers, researchers and policy analysts took part in the launch workshop.

Hon. Emmerson Mnangagwa, Speaker, Parliament of Zimbabwe

The launch of APIF is a culmination of previous workshops and meetings organized by ACBF in 1997 and 2001, respectively. In 1997, the Foundation in collaboration with the International Center for Economic Growth (ICEG) organized a workshop for Directors of Policy Research and specialized training institutions to brain storm on an African Research Agenda for Accelerating Development in sub Saharan Africa (ARAADA) This workshop examined the role of policy research and specialized training institutions in the policymaking process in Africa as well as their contributions to the strengthening of the culture of policy analysis and research in the public sector, reviewed forms and elements of institutional networking among ACBF-supported institutions and came up with major suggestions for the way forward.

Mr. Abdoulaye Bio-Tchané, Director, Africa Department, International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Guided by the outcomes of the ARAADA brainstorming session, the Foundation, in June 2001, organized a workshop to discuss further the conceptualization of the emerging APIF knowledge network – its form and elements. The main objectives of the workshop were to, set up APIF as a forum for the review of leading issues in development, including capacity building; assess institutional performance of African policy institutes with respect to contribution towards development policy and program management and poverty reduction strategies and programs; review the role of and contributions of policy institutes in the policymaking process at national and regional levels; and examine challenges faced by policy institutes with respect to long term sustainability.

Dr. Gideon Gono, Governor, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe

With the intent of bridging the gaps identified in 1997 and 2001, respectively, the 2004 inauguration of APIF formally institutionalizes the Forum as a continental knowledge network for generating, synthesizing, collating and sharing ideas and best practices for the management of economic and social policies and programs, good governance and poverty reduction in sub-Saharan Africa.

Some of the substantive development issues discussed at APIF 2004 were unfair trade practices, Africa and the Millennium Development Goals, poverty reduction strategies in Africa, impact measurement in interventions in capacity building, and knowledge management in capacity building and development management.

To assist the ACBF Knowledge Management and Program Support Department in launching the activities of the network, APIF 2004 set up a Bureau consisting of a Chair, a Vice Chair and five other members drawn from the five sub-regions on the continent. Prof. Femi Fajana, Team Leader of the Policy Analysis Support Unit at the African Union was appointed Interim Chair. A working session of the knowledge network is planned for early 2005. .