Policy Research and Analysis
Africa is not short of development policies. Across the continent, each country has a multiplicity of frameworks—from strategic to operational, comprehensive to sectoral, and long-term to short-term. However, the proliferation of policies has not solved Africa’s development challenges. PCAD provides insights into the causal factors. Our offerings include:
- Providing evidence for decision-making
- Identifying and anticipating policy impacts
- Evaluating and recommending areas for policy reform
- Mapping policy interactions and their effects
Legal and Institutional Advisory
Many African countries continue to be governed by inherited or imported legal frameworks and institutional arrangements that do not reflect local realities, cultural values, or social aspirations. These laws and institutions not only fail to deliver on their promises but are often responsible for exacerbating marginalisation. Our offerings include:
- Designing effective legal frameworks
- Promoting rights-based legislation
- Assessing implementation requirement
- Optimizing institutional structures
Advocacy and Public Engagement
For too long, African voices have been marginalized in global and national decision-making processes. Despite being the most affected by many global challenges, including poverty, climate change, conflicts, and loss of biodiversity, Africans often have the least influence in shaping the policies that impact their lives. Our offerings include:
- Influencing policy and building coalitions
- Mobilizing communities and raising public awareness
- Shifting narratives and engaging the media
- Producing evidence for advocacy
Strategic Foresight and Planning
Development planning in Africa has been characterized by external dependency and donor-driven agendas, leading to strategies that prioritize foreign interests over continental well-being, and short term gains over long-term sustainability. Furthermore, such planning approaches often rely on linear projections from the past that do not adequately capture future possibilities. Our offerings include:
- Applying futures thinking and strategic foresight
- Strengthening coordination and systems thinking
- Promoting policy coherence
- Building adaptive capacity and resilience
Capacity Development and Training
Many capacity-building efforts in Africa have lacked lasting impact due to their reliance on externally driven models, limited systems thinking, and a narrow focus on technical skills. By overlooking local contexts, structural barriers, and institutional continuity, such approaches often fail to empower communities or create sustainable, transformative change. Our offerings include:
- Building leadership and governance capacity
- Empowering communities and civil society
- Promoting south-south and triangular cooperation
- Facilitating learning and continuous improvement
Organisations that our experts have worked with
“Thought without practice is empty; and action without thought is blind.”
Kwame Nkrumah
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