African Think Tanks Strategic Dialogue

The Royal Institute for Strategic Studies (IRES) organized, on May 5, 2025, a strategic dialogue with African think tanks, centered on the theme: "Africa in Transition: The Power of African Think Tanks in Analysis, Anticipation, and Adaptation."

This meeting brought together a high-level panel composed of representatives from approximately fifteen think tanks across a multitude of African countries. It served as a platform for the exchange of experiences regarding the intellectual and strategic contribution of African think tanks to informing public decision-making, developing coherent policies, and defining national and continental priorities.

The discussions made it possible to identify emerging or latent risks at both the international and continental levels — whether geopolitical, political, security-related, economic, social, environmental, or technological — as well as the capacity of think tanks to anticipate, analyze, and alert decision-makers. This dialogue also provided an opportunity to generate concrete and pragmatic proposals in favor of autonomous development in Africa, capable of addressing challenges and overcoming multifaceted risks.

All participants praised the initiative led by IRES, considering it a first step toward the creation of an Alliance of African Think Tanks. This alliance is expected to facilitate the pooling of efforts in strategic intelligence and foresight, deepen the analysis of structural problems affecting Africa, and amplify the voice of African think tanks on the international stage.