.: Members of the Board  
Prof. Abdoulaye Bathily

Professor of History at the University Cheik Anta Diop in Dakar, Senegal.
Dr. Alioune Sall

Executive Director of the African Futures Institute (AFI) in Tshwane (Pretoria), South Africa
Prof. Archie Mafeje

The late Professor Mafeje taught at the University of South Africa (UNISA) in Tshwane (Pretoria), South Africa,
Ms. Betty Maina

CEO, Kenya Associaton of Manufacturers, Nairobi, Kenya
Ms. Comfort Lamptey

Senior Advisor, Refugee Women and Gender, at the United Nations in New York, United States of America
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.: Contacts  
Tel: +27 12 352 4071
ifutures@africanfutures.org
Fax: +27 12 322 66 99
.: African Futures Centres of Excellence Network 

A main objective of the African Futures Institute (AFI) is the advancement of Future Studies in Africa. When the African Futures project was still a part of the UNDP, several workshops were held on the continent on capacity building, long term thinking, strategic management, and future studies. Out of these workshops grew the understanding that a larger coordination and advocacy effort was needed to advance future studies.

For this purpose, the AFI convened the African Futures Centres of Excellence Network (AFCEN) in which the following organizations are included:

  1. Centre Ivoirien de Recherche Economiques et Sociales (CIRES), Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
  2. Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administraton (GIMPA), Accra, Ghana
  3. Malawi Institute of Management (MIM), Lilongwe, Malawi
  4. Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER), Ibadan, Nigeria
  5. African Institute for Development and Economic Planning (IDEP), Dakar, Senegal
  6. Eastern and Southern African Management Institute (ESAMI), Arusha, Tanzania
  7. Network for the Environment and Sustainable Development in Africa (NESDA), Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire
  8. Futures Trust, Potchefstroom, South Africa
  9. Third World Forum, Dakar, Senegal
  10. Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (Codesria), Dakar, Senegal
  11. Centre for Econometric and Allied Research (CEAR), Ibadan, Nigeria
  12. Instituto Nacional de Estudos e Pesquisa (INEP), Bissau, Guinea Bissau
  13. Economic and Social Research Foundation (ESRF), Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

The activities of AFCEN fall into the following categories:

  • Strategic Research and Regional Long-Term Perspectives Studies (LTPS)
  • Dissemination of strategic information to support long-term planning and decision-making
  • Advocacy and Advisory Services on Long Term Perspectives Studies
  • Capacity Building on Long Term Perspectives Studies

The AFCEN was established to institutionalize and entrench LTPS in Africa. The network is to undertake strategic policy studies, build capacities in the allied field of perspective studies and provide policy on long-term perspectives planning to African governments and institutions. The AFCEN cultivates a commitment to the long-term perspective development approach and to introduce African leaders, planners, and decision-makers to the complexities of managing future changes. A constituency for long-term strategic thinking is to be built to enable development practice that is human-centered.