3
Days
34
Delegates
14
Think tanks
10+
Countries
When 34 of the Global South’s sharpest policy minds gathered at the Glee Hotel to shape the future of evidence-based governance, Atoto & Atori was there — not just to cover the story, but to soundtrack it with Nnalolile’s favourite Kenyan music female artist, Shari Afrika.
The African Economic Research Consortium (AERC), in partnership with Southern Voice and the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), convened the
Strengthening Think Tanks Project workshop from 23–25 March 2026.
The three-day gathering brought together research institutions from Bangladesh, Brazil, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kenya, Senegal and South Africa, united by a shared mission:
closing the gap between rigorous evidence and real policy change.
Shari Afrika’s
Music embodies what this workshop stood for — locally rooted, globally resonant, impossible to ignore.
The closing evening was where culture and policy converged. Shari Afrika — one of Kenya’s most compelling Afrobeat voices and an artist under the Nnalolile for Business programme for apprinticeship Music Therapy — performed for delegates from across four continents.
Her set drew on East African rhythms, celebrating the same cultural richness the workshop was working to amplify through research.
The workshop’s centrepiece was the Resilience and Sustainability Self-Assessment Framework — a six-pillar tool co-created by 14 think tanks to measure and strengthen their own organisational capacity.
Over three days, participants worked through forcefield analysis sessions to build a shared roadmap and action agenda for stronger, more independent research institutions across the Global South.
Nnalolile for Business connects Kenyan creative talent with professional and institutional events — bridging the worlds of culture, policy and enterprise. Shari’s appearance at the AERC workshop is a testament to that vision in practice.
About AERC Meeting
- Anton Rizki- Centre for Indonesian Policy Studies, Indonesia
- Fahmida Khatun- Centre for Policy Dialogue, Bangladesh
- Mehnaz Rabbani- BRAC Institute of Governance & Development, Bangladesh
- Pratyush Sharma- Southern Voice, India
- Ezana Weldeghebrael- FCDO Research Commissioning Centre, United Kingdom
- Gladys Githaiga- IDRC, Canada
- Line Richter- Danish International Development Agency, Denmark
- Michelle Quiñones-Southern Voice, United Kingdom
- Peter Taylor-Institute of Development Studies, United Kingdom
- Tavinder Nijhawan- IDRC,Canada
- Abule Mehare for Ethiopian Economics Association , Ethiopia
- Netsanet Jote for Policy Studies Institute, Ethiopia
- Laure Tall for Agricultural & Rural Prospective Initiative, Senegal
- Marième Cissé forWest Africa Citizen Think Tank, Senegal
- Soukeyna Diallo from Consortium for Economic & Social Research, Senegal
- Mikatekiso Kubayi from Institute for Global Dialogue, South Africa
- MG Margarita Gomez – Southern Voice, Mexico
- Roberto Pires –Institute for Applied Economic Research, Brazil
- Abule Mehare- Ethiopian Economics Association, Ethiopia
- Netsanet Jote- Policy Studies Institute, Ethiopia
- Laure Tall- Agricultural & Rural Prospective Initiative, Senegal
- Marième Cissé- West Africa Citizen Think Tank, Senegal
- Soukeyna Diallo- Consortium for Economic & Social Research, Senegal
- Mikatekiso Kubayi- Institute for Global Dialogue, South Africa
- Agnes Lutomiah from African Centre for Technology Studies.
- Brian Mwambu from Centre for Parliamentary Studies
- Charles Owino from African Economic Research Consortium
- Calvince Ngaji from African Technology Policy Studies Network
- Eliud Moyi from KIPPRA
- Gladys Githaiga from IDRC, East Africa
- Jacqueline Owigo from FCDO
- John Mutua from Institute of Economic Affairs
- Jordan Kyongo from Gates Foundation
- Kenedy Asembo from Global Centre for Policy and Strategy
- Masini Ichiwara from State Dept. for Economic Planning
- Mohamed Salat from African Capacity Building Foundation
- Rodolphe Bance from African Capacity Building Foundation
- Rose Ngugi from African Economic Research Consortium
- Scholastica Odhiambo from African Economic Research Consortium
- Thomas Hurdson from Youth Greenspace Action and Network
- Victor Murinde from African Economic Research Consortium
Workshop attendance — 34 delegates
Nnalolile for Business — Shari Afrika
“Where Kenyan talent meets the world’s most important rooms. Music is medicine.”
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