Survey of African Regional Organizations – Civil Society Organizations, Research Institutes and Think Tanks

The institutional landscape in Africa has evolved significantly over the past four decades. The founding of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in 1965 gave rise to the subsequent establishment of several other treaty-based inter-governmental organizations (TBOs/IGOs), notably the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) working at the sub-regional level. Initially the emphasis was on cooperation between states, and institutional mechanisms in place were overwhelmingly intergovernmental. Nevertheless, this state-led project recognized the need for African countries to overcome the constraints of their individual sizes and relative resource endowments, to aggregate their strengths and capacities, and to forge pan-African solidarity as a common strategy for development.