The US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, has urged African think tanks to form networks and produce work that will inform the US Government’s policies for Africa.
She said African think tanks could contribute immensely to the development of their countries and urged governments, policy makers and civil society entities to constantly engage them on various issues of national concern.
Ms Thomas-Greenfield made the observation at a media interaction at the office of the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) in Accra on the theme, “Reflections on governance and democracy in Africa and the role of African think tanks.”
She was in the country to participate in the inaugural US-African think tank dialogue in Accra, which discussed how to enhance democracy and governance in Africa.
The interactive session was a follow up on the dialogue, with the aim of broadening the discussions that took place behind closed doors.
Role of think tanks
Madam Thomas-Greenfield commended think tanks for speaking frankly on issues and not on what governments and the US would want to hear.
“They have dedicated themselves to the future of their countries and that of Africa as a whole, to making the continent a better place and that is why it is important that policy makers, whether in Africa or the US, listen to them and engage them on important issues,” she said.
Madam Thomas-Greenfield noted that healthy accountable democratic institutions such as the think tanks helped to generate stability, security and prosperity in Africa.
She said the US Government was prepared to work with think tanks, and as such the US State Department organised the dialogue.
Democracy not negotiable
A member of the Centre for Democratic Development in Abuja, Nigeria, Ms Idayat Hassan, noted that there were serious challenges to good governance on the continent and said until such challenges were addressed democracy would be meaningless.
For his part, a member of the Institute for Security Studies in Kenya, Mr Peter Alingo, said there had been varied levels of democratic development in the East African Region and the challenge was the quality of elections.
He said the region had been plagued with varying degrees of conflict violence, which made the region vulnerable, explaining that such an environment became a fertile ground for wide spread poverty.
For her part, a member of the South African CDD, Ms Elizabeth Soropoulos, observed that there had been growing political disconnect between the governed and the government on the continent.
Background
The Executive Director of the CDD, Professor E. Gymah Boadi, explained that a number of think tanks from sub-Saharan Africa and some officials from the US, led by Madam Thomas-Greenfield, deliberated on ways by which democracy and governance in Africa could be enhanced.
He said specifically the deliberations had been focused on ways in which think tanks could positively shape the US-Africa policy in a manner that would be conducive to the promotion of democratic governance in Africa.
The US Ambassador in Ghana, Ambassador Robert P. Jackson, in a remark said the presence of Madam Thomas-Greenfield was an opportunity for her to interact with a wide range of groups and Ghanaians.
