Cape Town - The inaugural Africa Consultative Meeting (ACM) is expected to start in Cape Town today.
The two-day meeting, convened by the Inclusive Society Institute, will be held at the Rockefeller Hotel and Residence on the Foreshore.
The ACM had four key objectives: to serve as an embryo for the establishment of an annual consultative meeting among like-minded African think tanks for the purpose of dialogue over political and socio-economic issues confronting the African continent and to prepare these think tanks for engaging in international conferences; to prepare on an annual basis a synthesised African position on China-Africa relations intended as a contribution to the China Africa Think Tanks Forum; to seek co-operation among the participants for the development of an Africa Fragility Index as a contribution to the Istanbul Security Forum; and to introduce the Global South Perspectives Network and Global Resilience Council.
Inclusive Society Institute CEO Daryl Swanepoel said the objective was to bring together think-tanks from across Africa to consider, discuss and develop policy proposals to advance development on the continent.
“As African think tank representatives, we travel all over the world arguing the case for Africa.
“We meet each other abroad, but are we meeting sufficiently on the African continent to synchronise and workshop our common position prior to the international endeavours?
“The Inclusive Society Institute believes this to be a gap. Therefore the ACM we hope will go some way in building a collaborative approach between think tanks in Africa,” he said.
Eight think tanks from north, west, east, central and southern Africa are participating in the meeting.
“Deliberations at these meetings will focus on consolidating a collective African position on major contemporary challenges facing the continent, and on further integrating the African think-tank community into the broader Global South think-tank community,” Swanepoel said.
“During the discussions over the next two days, thematic discussions include Africa’s approach to multilateralism in general, its relationships with regional formations such as the Forum for China Africa Cooperation, and others advancing the cause of the Global South; and peace and security on the African continent.”