African Transformation Report 3

The African Transformation Report (ATR) is one of the flagships of ACET’s work program. The first ATR (ATR14: Growth with Depth) generated major recommendations for transforming African economies. The second ATR (ATR17) focused on agriculture as a vehicle for powering Africa’s transformation and it also yielded a number of policy recommendations at the country level. The ATRs have formed the basis for the African Transformation Forum whose aim is to bring together high-level policy makers, experts and practitioners to share ideas on African transformation. The ATRs have in general been well received. For example, ACET won the 2018 Prospect Magazine award in the category of global think tanks for the work done in ATR17. However, more needs to be done in terms of using the ATR for advocacy, which requires engagement with the political leadership to effect change. For this reason, the next ATR – ATR2020 – will be an advocacy document highlighting critical issues affecting the future of Africa, namely: Climate Change, Innovation, Demographics and Integration & connectedness. A project plan has been established to monitor the process of the development of ATR2020. The inception phase commencing in October 2018, with the creation of 4 issue papers. These will be reviewed in February and March 2019. During the 1st quarter of 2019, ACET developed 3 issue papers on climate change, demographics, and innovation and technology. The issue papers have been internally reviewed and revised and sent out for external review. The 4th issue paper, on Regional Integration, will be developed by external consultants during the second quarter. These consultants will also draft the main ATR chapter on Regional Integration. The consultants have been procured and contracted, and will initiate their work April 1st. We have also assigned a staff to serve as an internal project manager to ensure that the ATR is delivered in a co-ordinated and timely manner. During this period, the team finalized the external review process for the four issues papers (population and demographics; climate change; regional integration, and; technology and innovation) having taken cognisance of essential recommendations to fine tune the report. Draft annotated chapter outlines were prepared for the four themes. Dr. Asafu-Adjaye visited Washington, DC from June 3rd to 8th to work through the outlines with Bruce Ross-Larson who is helping to produce the report. Following this visit, weekly Skype meetings have been held between Bruce and the chapter authors to further refine the outline. This process was completed by June 30th, after which we commenced the writing of the report. The team also began work on materials for the TLP retreat scheduled for July 15th-16th, 2019. This includes a 4-5 pages background note and a PowerPoint presentation explaining the concept behind ATR3. In q3 2019, the ATR issue papers and annotated outlines were introduced to the Transformation Leadership Panel (TLP) through a poster presentation on July 15 to seek their inputs. A 4-5pages background note was also shared with the panel. Following feedback from the TLP, the annotated outlines were revised, and the four ATR chapters drafted. During q4 2019, zero drafts of all the four chapters of the ATR2020 were reviewed by internal and external reviewers. Between the 9th to 13th December the project coordinator held a meeting in Washington, DC, to discuss the ATR chapters with the chapter authors, external reviewers and the editor to resolve any outstanding issues. Next steps: The finalised chapters will be sent into production by January 13th, 2020. A special 16-page summary will be prepared and given to the TLP by January 20, 2020. The report will be launched at the 2020 World Bank Spring meetings. During the period Q1 2020, ACET produced the final drafts of the 4 ATR chapters on: - Demographics - Climate Change - Regional Integration - Technology & innovation The drafts of all the four chapters have been revised and finalized. The final revision was done by the advisory group, led by Shanta Devarajan.The ATR will be published as a suite of documents consisting of: (i) A main report which will consist of an overview chapter and four other chapters on the thematic areas—demographics, climate change, regional integration and innovation; (ii) and infographic summary of the report; and (iii) four individual in-depth study reports on each of the four thematic areas. In Q2 2020, all chapters of the report were completed and are undergoing review and final editing. The infographic is also undergoing review and targeted for completion in October 2020. Due to COVID-19, the ATR will be launched virtually in January 2021, as part of the virtual ATF Forum In Q3 2020, we completed the main draft report and the infographics. Final revisions to the overview are ongoing to better integrate the four thematic areas and align them with the DEPTH indicators. The report is programmed for launch in February 2021 as the kick-off to a virtual African Transformation Forum (ATF) webinar series (see below). We are implementing a strategic communication plan for a virtual launch and post-launch dissemination During the 4th quarter, ACET finalized the ATR Overview and the four thematic chapters in the report for a final round of external reviews. Comments from the reviewers have been integrated into various parts of the report, with a final draft targeted for mid-February. ACET continues to implement its strategic communication plan for a virtual launch and post-launch dissemination. The report is programmed for launch in the year 2021 as the kick-off to a virtual African Transformation Forum (ATF) webinar series (see below). In Q1 2021, chapters were revised to reflect recommendations from the final round of peer reviews in Jan 2021. These focused on improving the consistency of the report across chapters and streamlining the conclusion section to reflect three critical priority issues for each thematic area. For Q2 2021, all chapters of the main ATR - comprising the overview chapter and the four thematic chapters - were completed. Also completed was a 3-page report summary and a 12-page infographic summary of the report. The report will be launched on July 15 and will be available for download on different devices. Q3 2021 On 15th July 2021, ACET launched the third African Transformation Report (ATR 2021): “Integrating to Transform” at the virtual African Transformation Forum The report was launched through a short presentation of its key messages as well as a video recording. This was followed by panel discussions of issues arising from the report. The report can be found at www.acetforafrica.org/atr By end of Q3, ACET had recorded close to 7000 downloads and page visits from varying audiences since the launch. Q4 2021 This project officially ended in July after the report had been launched. ACET has recorded about 9,761 downloads and page visits for the report by varying audiences as of December 2021.