The African Institute for Economic Development and Planning (IDEP) was established in 1962 by the General Assembly of the United Nations, and given the mission to train middle-level and senior policymakers of African countries, conduct policy-relevant economic research and provide advisory and consulting services for African governments and regional organizations. It was also mandated to widely disseminate its research output among African policymakers and establish documentation to be made available throughout Africa to researchers, national institutions and sub-regional organizations in the field of economic development and planning. Finally, IDEP was instructed to promote and defend the economic independence of African countries.

Establishment of the Institute was motivated by the urgent need felt by newly independent African countries to fill the human capital void left by former colonial powers, in their effort to address the development challenges that they faced upon gaining international sovereignty.

With the assurance of stronger political backing and full collaboration of other African organizations such as the Economic Commission for Africa (its sponsoring umbrella organization), the Organization of African Unity(OAU)/African Union (AU) and the African Development Bank (ADB), IDEP is in a better position to tackle Africa's development challenges and play meaningfully the role that it was assigned 40 years ago. This role is still relevant.

Its main target groups include middle-level and senior policymakers and public sector officials, representatives of African organizations, civil society and the private sector. IDEP also trains non-Africans and hosts them as visiting scholars.

The areas in which the Institute focuses its activities are identified based on a) the agenda of the regional organizations that formulate and implement Africa's continent-wide strategy for economic development and b) the national priorities selected by African countries. To attain a high degree of effectiveness in the delivery of its mission, IDEP concentrates mainly on three broad thematic areas, namely, regional integration; trade policy and trade negotiations under the WTO; Economic growth and development.

The training of African middle-level and senior policymakers constitutes an important component of IDEP's mission and is guided by two specific goals. The first one is to offer African civil servants, public and private sector officials a post-graduate degree-granting program that provides them with state-of-the-art capacity for economic analysis and management, strong policy relevance and substantial African economic content. IDEP's M.A Program in Economic Policy and Management is designed to serve that purpose. The goal of the M.A program is to equip policy analysts and decision-makers with adequate analytical and quantitative tools that allow them to advise senior policymakers or to independently formulate, implement and evaluate policy packages, while being able to communicate effectively with other policy stakeholders.

The second component of IDEP's training agenda comprises a number of short courses that range from one to three months in duration and cover specific policy topics. The goal of the short courses is to help African policymakers and analysts enhance their skills in specific policy areas. Each short course is offered as frequently as effective demand and available resources warrant it.

The research and advisory agenda of IDEP is based on the policy agenda of African regional organizations and African countries. Its programming supposes built-in flexibility so that the Institute can respond to new policy challenges and requests from its stakeholders.

Three main leverage channels are explored in the area of external partnership. First, the Institute forges close long term collaborative ties with Pan-African organizations such as the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the African Union (AU) and the African Development Bank (AfDB).

The second leveraging strategy consists in establishment of a network of African economic research centers that cooperates with IDEP in the conduct of policy-oriented research focussing primarily on the Pan-African policy agenda. IDEP's informational resources include its library services, its computing and networking facilities, improvement in the availability of Internet-based information, and acquisition of software and statistical databases.

COMPOSITION

53 Member Countries: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome e Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zimbabwe.

STRUCTURE

General supervision is exercised through the Conference of Ministers of the ECA and its appropriate bodies.

The Governing Council is an important policy organ that lays down general principles and policies governing the operation of the Institute, reviews IDEP's performance report, and approves work programs and plans.

The Executive Committee, which reports to the Governing Council, monitors the implementation of programs and the decisions of the Governing Council. It also gives guidance to the Director in his management of the Institute.

The Advisory Board The Advisory Board provides IDEP with intellectual guidance with respect to the content and orientation of training and research programs.

The management team, which works together for the smooth functioning of the Institute, includes the Director, Deputy Director, and all Heads of Divisions.

IDEP is a subsidiary body of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).

GENERAL PUBLICATIONS