On December 5-7, 2007, the 38th Regular Meeting of the Executive Board of ACBF was held in Cotonou, Benin. The Executive Board considered and approved six projects amounting to US$8.6 million. The approved operations include the African Research Consortium Collaborative Ph.D. Program (AERC-CPP Phase II); the Policy Analysis and Research Project (PARP Phase II); Projet d'Appui à la Décentralisation et aux Collectivtés Locales (PADCL); Projet de Renforcement des capacités pour améliorer la participation des Etats Membres de la CEMAC au Système Commercial Multilatéral (RE-CEMAC Phase II) and two Country Level Knowledge Networks (CLK-NETS), namely, the Network on the Economy of Nigeria (NEN) and the Malawi Knowledge Network for Research, Policy and Development (MAKNET).

African Research Consortium Collaborative Ph.D. Program (AERC-CPP Phase II): A total of US$3.5 million was granted to support phase II of the African Economic Research Consortium Collaborative Ph.D Program (AERC-CPP Phase II). The AERC was established in 1988 with the principal objective of strengthening local capacity for economic policy research in sub-Saharan Africa in response to the region's need for personnel with skills pertinent to the effective management of these economies. The CPP was launched in 2002 to respond to the serious need for economic experts on the Continent. AERC CPP II will increase the pool of highly skilled economists on the Continent to enhance teaching and research capacities in universities; improve policy making and implementation in the public sector of African countries; and further produce high quality economists at a cost-effective rate, thus enhancing the program's sustainability.

Policy Analysis and Research Project (PARP Phase II): A total of US$2 million was granted to the National Assembly of Nigeria (NASS) for the implementation of the second phase of the Policy Analysis and Research Project (PARP II). PARP II will seek to strengthen the capacity of the National Assembly of Nigeria to enable it to effectively discharge its constitutional duties of legislation, representation and oversight over the Executive. The project will seek to build the capacity of Legislators and staff through customized training programs; strengthen information access in the NASS by maintaining and building upon existing ICT infrastructure which was built during PARP I; support effective functioning of Legislative Committees in the NASS through targeted capacity building programs for such committees; increase access to information in the National Assembly through support for production of the Hansard (Verbatim Records) and other legislative records such as the Votes and Proceedings and the Order Paper; and provide legislators with well-researched policy alternatives through policy analysis.

Projet d'appui à la décentralisation et aux collectivités locales (PADCL): A total of US$700,000 was granted to the Ministry of Interior and Decentralization of the Government of the Republic of Djibouti for the implementation of Projet d'appui à la décentralisation et aux collectivités locales (PADCL). The project will be implemented over four years. This project aims to support decentralization and local governance in Djibouti by supporting policy and institutional reforms and strengthening capacity for effective and responsive local government. The objective of the project is to improve the effectiveness and responsiveness of local government in Djibouti with the aims of improving the institutional and policy framework to support decentralization and local governance; improve the skills and knowledge of local government officials to assume devolved functions; and improve civil society oversight and participation in local communities.

Projet de renforcement des capacités pour améliorer la participation des Etats Membres de la CEMAC au système commercial multilatéral (RE-CEMAC Phase II): A total of US$1.8 million was granted to the Economic and Monetary Community of Central African States (CEMAC) for the implementation of the Projet de renforcement des capacités pour améliorer la participation des Etats Membres de la CEMAC au système commercial multilatéral (RE-CEMAC Phase II). This four-year project aims to build sustainable trade capacity in the CEMAC region for effective participation in international trade processes through training and institutional capacity development. The project will address these issues through improving the knowledge, skills and information available to government officials to negotiate and implement trade agreements and formulate appropriate policies; improving the knowledge, skills and information available to business operators to better exploit the benefits of international trade agreements and expand export opportunities; and increasing the use of policy oriented research and input of the business community to improve analytical capacity and trade policy formulation in the region.

Country Level Knowledge Networks (CLK-NETs): A CLK-NET is essentially a community of practice that brings together the country's key stakeholder groups in development policy analysis, formulation, and management - including the diaspora - for discussion of topical policy issues, knowledge harvesting and active dissemination to policymakers and the wider public, with the ultimate aim of fostering professional and stakeholder input into development policy planning, design, reform, implementation and evaluation.

Network on the Economy of Nigeria (NEN): A total of US$ 300,000 was granted to the West African Institute of Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM) for the establishment of the Network on the Economy of Nigeria (NEN). The goal of NEN is to establish a community of practice made up of Nigerian stakeholders in the development process. NEN will establish an effective platform that brings together the country's major development stakeholders, including the vast Nigerian diaspora, for pooling their competencies and collectively reflecting and proposing solutions on the country's development challenges; provide a formalized and regular forum for diagnosing the policy problems of the Nigerian economy; establish an efficient information retrieval and networking system that documents policy research papers and briefs from the country's think-tanks; lessons learnt and best-practices; and ongoing initiatives on the country's development process, thereby providing the first port-of-call for various persons and institutions seeking information on Nigeria; promote the utilization of knowledge for development management through providing a better link between policy analysis and research on the one hand, and the policymaking process on the other; and establish a pool of human resources with adequate capacity in development policy analysis and research and management, to serve as peer reviewers for policy research output as well as backstop the other stakeholders with limited capacity in this area, not least civil society, the media and the private sector.

Malawi Knowledge Network for Research, Policy and Development (MAK-NET): A total of US$300,000 was granted to the Management Development Centre of the Malawi Polytechnic (University of Malawi) for the establishment of the Malawi Knowledge Network for Research, Policy and development (MAK-NET). The goal of the project is to cultivate a culture of wide consultation through broadening access to and utilization of information in the formulation and implementation of development policies and programmes through a knowledge network. The more specific objectives are to mobilize policy experts, academics, professional associations, public and private sector, civil society organizations, policy activists and advocates to share and debate developmental issues; provide a knowledge base for development policies through the establishment of a website and database of experts in Malawi, the region and the world; provide a platform for debate in the formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development policies and programmes; and promote utilization of knowledge for development through knowledge dissemination and advocacy.