About ATTS

The Africa Think Tank Summit (ATTS), launched in 2014, has emerged as a premier continental platform for high-level policy dialogue, knowledge sharing, and agenda-setting. The Summit plays a critical role in bridging the gap between research and policy by convening diverse stakeholders—including governments, regional institutions, think tanks, private sector actors, and development partners—to deliberate on Africa's most pressing development challenges and identify actionable solutions.

Since 2025, the African Union Commission, the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), and African Union Development Agency-NEPAD (AUDA-NEPAD) are implementing the African Think Tank Platform (ATTP) Project, which aims to establish and operationalize a sustainable platform for effective cooperation and harmonization on regional policy issues among country-level policymakers, regional associations, and think tanks. Funded by the World Bank, the project focus exclusively on encouraging collaboration in policymaking on regional integration priorities associated with significant positive externalities and/or on reducing negative externalities. The priorities are based on common areas for regional-level collaboration identified in the African Union (AU)'s Agenda 2063 and the World Bank's Africa Strategy and are aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These priority themes include (a) economic transformation and governance, (b) climate change, (c) regional trade, (d) food security, (e) human capital, and (f) digitalization. All the thematic areas include a strong focus on gender. The priority areas may be updated during project implementation, with the approval of the Think Tank Platform Steering Committee (TTPSC), to respond to emerging demands on the continent.

Within this framework, the Africa Think Tank Summit is now convened under the umbrella of the African Think Tank Platform (ATTP) to align analytical and research priorities with sustainable development goals. It also builds on the momentum of previous editions to contribute in bridging the gap between policy commitments and implementation.

The Africa Think Tank Summit (ATTS) is the flagship annual event of the African Capacity Building Foundation, designed to bridge the gap between policy design and real-world implementation. It acts as a premier continental platform for knowledge sharing, networking, and actionable dialogue among African think tanks, policymakers, civil society, and development partners.