Put Your Thinking Caps On

The term “think tank” can sound as inside-the-beltway as, well, “inside-the-beltway.” But the new Think Tank Initiative (TTI) makes it clear that there are a lot of good tanks around the world, ready to do a lot of good thinking. TTI will support think tanks in developing countries, facilitating quality research that can contribute to sound national policy making.

Three donors — the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada — recently announced that they have seeded the project with a combined initial investment of $90 million, to be used over five years.

Policymakers can’t do much without reliable and objective info. Lacking good facts, a debate on national priorities is an opinion-fest, and whoever yells the loudest usually wins. This is where TTI hopes to make a difference. Robust national debate is vitally important for developing countries, which makes a well-functioning research sector indispensable.

The first $30 million in grants will support 24 organizations in East and West Africa. So we can expect a lot of well-researched ideas to emerge in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda. In August, TTI will turn its attention to Latin America and South Asia.