The AfriGAP was conceived as a follow-up to the 2011 Dakar Forum on governance assessments in Africa. 97.9% of Forum participants expressed interest in an online platform to connect stakeholders. The top three desired features were easy access to assessment methodologies, relevant news/events, and mentoring schemes. Respondents felt it was important to showcase African leadership in governance assessments and bridge constituencies like civil society and governments. An objective of the AfriGAP is to promote locally-produced governance data in Africa for better policymaking and accountability by facilitating dialogue between data producers and users and offering a platform for collaboration between organizations involved in governance assessments.

1. History, Vision & Objectives

2. History: Dakar Forum
The AfriGAP was initially conceived as a follow-up mechanism to
the Africa Forum on Civil Society and Governance Assessments,
held in Dakar (10-12 Nov. 2011) and co-convened with Trust Africa,
CIVICUS, the African Governance Institute and the CONGAD.
 3 days
150 participants from 35 countries ++
 3 themes:
a) Govt-CS partnerships in assessments
b) CS assessments
c) Use of ICTs in assessments

3. History: Dakar Forum
97.9% of respondents expressed interest in
joining an online platform to connect
participants from the Forum and provide a
space for learning and collaborative initiatives.

4. Three features of the envisaged Platform were
rated as ‘most needed’:
1) to provide easy access to methodologies and
assessment reports (56.3%)
2) to provide information on relevant news and
upcoming events (62.5%)
3) to facilitate mentoring schemes between
experienced practitioners and researchers, and
less experienced stakeholders (43.8%).

5. Highlights from respondents
• “Need to nurture & showcase African leadership and
innovation in this thriving field” (vs. proliferation of
external assessments)
• “Need for bridge-building between like-minded
governance monitoring constituencies across Africa
(from civil society, think tanks, parliaments, media,
UNDP Country Offices, national M&E units) who rarely
interact with each other, in spite of their
complementary skill set and of their common purpose
(i.e. to use governance data to hold Governments to
account, as well as to inform/influence policy).”

6. Towards a shared vision for the AfriGAP
Now over to you, AfriGAP Partners:
What challenges do YOU face?
(which the AfriGAP could help address…)
Technical/methodological
Operational
 Advocacy/outreach
 Etc.

7. Our own diagnostic: 3 ‘gaps’ to fill
1. GA conducted externally by int’l orgs have less
impact at country level than GA conducted
locally.
2. A lot of existing governance data remains
unknown to potential data users.
3. There is no mechanism in place for leading orgs
involved in the production or promotion of GA in
Africa to coordinate their work & achieve better
results.

8. Our proposed objectives for the
AfriGAP
1. To promote the production & use of governance
data in Africa, by Africans, for better
policymaking & strengthened accountability;
 More local data collection
2. To facilitate a two-way dialogue btw producers
& users of governance data;
 More impact
3. To offer a strategic platform for collaboration
btw leading orgs involved in the production or
promotion of GA in Africa.
 More collaboration