AFDB: BUILDING KNOWLEDGE, SHARING KNOWLEDGE

Although the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group’s core mandate is development financing, it has been recognized that its success in achieving its ultimate objective of reducing poverty and sustainable development in Africa depends critically on the depth and width of its knowledge of development challenges facing the continent and its individual regional member countries (RMCs).

In July 2006, the AfDB instituted a new organizational structure to reposition itself as a knowledge institution. The Bank Group should increasingly complement its financial services with knowledge services in order to enhance development effectiveness on the continent. To this end, a new Chief Economist was appointed to oversee, guide, and coordinate all knowledge-related activities across the Bank; and the Office of the Chief Economist (ECON) was established to:

- Generate knowledge products, disseminate and management the products;
- Brand the Bank as a first port of call for development knowledge on the African continent with a view to ensuring e an African voice in international development debates and the international development agenda;
- Build internal research capacity, encourage research collaboration among bank staff as well as between bank staff and external researchers;
- Help to close the data and statistics gap on Africa; and
- Contribute to capacity development of its regional member countries (RMCs).

KNOWLEDGE NETWORKS

The Office of the Chief Economist is encouraging the establishment of Knowledge Networks, both internally and externally. Within the Bank, internal knowledge networks would promote synergies among operations complexes and the Chief Economist complex on knowledge-related activities. Four internal networks are already in place:

- The AfDB Network of Economists;
- The Project Analysis Network;
- The Monitoring and Evaluation Network and
- The Poverty Network.

Externally, the Bank is looking to set up a mechanism for external collaboration with African universities, African research institutions and internal organizations. It is also looking to identify feasible avenues for the dissemination of research findings. The Office of the Chief Economist is also proposing the establishment of:

- The African Development Research Network;
- The African Network of Central Banks and Finance Ministries and
- The African Economic Association.

SUPPORT TO AFRICAN RESEARCH AND CAPACITY BUILDING INSTITUTIONS

Over the years, the African Development Bank Group has been providing support to research and capacity building institutions (RCBIs) on the continent. Since 2000, a document titled Bank Group Strategy and Framework for Support to Research and Capacity Building Institutions in Africa has provided a comprehensive set of guidelines for selecting beneficiary institutions.

The Bank is exploring the idea of establishing a Knowledge Management Trust Fund (KMTF) to mobilize, pool, and leverage intellectual and financial resources in order to strengthen the Bank Group’s knowledge research capacity and expand its research program with research institutions in the RMCs. The Bank will raise funds for KMTF activities from within as well as from bilateral donors, the private sector and foundations.

Specifically, KMTF resources will support the Bank’s:

Research program in key areas within the five research clusters:
- Poverty Reduction and the MDGs;
- Macroeconomic Dynamics and Growth;
- Governance, Institutions and Public Sector Management;
- Investment climate and Competitiveness of African Economies; and
- Regional Integration and Trade.
- Statistical research to promote the collection and use of data and statistics.
- Knowledge-related activities in support of Bank Group operations.
- Networks and Community of Best Practices in knowledge generation, utilization, sharing and dissemination.
- External research partnerships with research institutions in and outside Africa.
- Dialogue on development issues among Bank staff, development partners, and RMCs to improve the quality of policy advice.
Visibility as a Knowledge Institution and a port of call on development issues in Africa. Research allows the Bank to effectively participate in national, regional, and global policy discussions.
Attachment of staff to the ECON complex as well as to universities and research institutes in and outside Africa.

OTHER INITIATIVES

The ADB is also proposing other initiatives to enhance its role as a Knowledge Institution:

- Professorial Endowment: These chairs will be awarded to 5 universities in Africa, (to cut across the regional grouping) based on a competitive bidding process.
- The AfDB Distinguished Speakers Program: The program is devoted to sharing insights, intuitions, concepts, tools, techniques, ideas, practices, new applications, skills, experiences and major research findings that could contribute to knowledge in the five research clusters and to development in Africa.
- Collaborative Research and Dissemination Activities: The Bank will engage in broad collaborative researches with a number of African Research institutes and international organizations.
- The Partnership-for-Skills-Development Program (PASDEP): The PASDEP initiative entails exchanging staff with selected partners in private sector companies, international financial institutions, regional and national development banks, government agencies, universities and research institutes, consulting firms, unions and NGOs for a period of up to two years or more as a way of sharing knowledge and building new perspectives that can help the drive towards attaining sustainable development in Africa.
- The AfDB Program for Research Assistants (APRA): The Bank will establish the APRA on a two-year non-convertible appointment basis targeting new bachelors degree holders with exceptional academic records from recognized African universities.
- The AfDB Fellowship and Post-doctoral Research Program (FEPOR): This program will be a nonconvertible 2-12 month program, intended to provide research fellowship opportunities to qualified university graduates (fresh PhD graduates in particular), faculty or researchers from institutes in Africa.