2025 Think Tank Week Report

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Foreword

With deep purpose and optimism, we present this consolidated report of the 2025 Think Tank Week. Over five impactful days in Yaoundé, the Denis & Lenora Foretia Foundation brought together three interconnected programs: the Emerging Leaders Program, the Executive and Strategic Leadership Program, and the Central Africa Think Tank Forum. This unique convergence was guided by a core belief: sustainable transformation in Central Africa demands a holistic, multi-generational approach to leadership and policy innovation.

Our aim was to create a dynamic ecosystem where aspiring young leaders, experienced executives, and leading policy thinkers could engage in meaningful dialogue, share insights, and build strategic partnerships. We believe that realizing the ambitious visions of the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals begins with strengthening the human and institutional capacity needed to navigate Central Africa’s complex realities.

Central Africa faces serious challenges—governance gaps, economic instability, conflict, and climate change—but these are not beyond our reach. Solutions lie within our collective ability to harness intellectual capital, foster ethical leadership, and anchor development in evidence-based policy. This week demonstrated that when diverse perspectives and voices across generations and institutions come together, we unlock the potential for real, lasting change.

This report is more than a record of events; it reflects the intellectual energy and unwavering commitment of leaders working to shift our institutions from the margins to the center of policy-making. The strategic thinking, capacity building, and honest dialogue captured here reflect our vision for a Central Africa where evidence guides policy, civil society is a trusted partner, and a new generation of leaders drives meaningful impact.

The partnerships formed and ideas shaped during this week will echo far beyond conference halls, catalyzing the change we collectively envision for our region.

Dr. Denis Foretia
Executive Chairman, Nkafu Policy Institute

Executive Summary

Building on the momentum of its 2023 and 2024 editions, the highly anticipated 2025 Central Africa Think Tank Forum was held from August 7–8, 2025, at the Djeuga Palace Hotel in Yaoundé, Cameroon. Once again, the event affirmed that think tanks and civil society organizations (CSOs) across the Central Africa sub-region are increasingly committed to identifying global solutions to local challenges. Hosted by the Denis & Lenora Foretia Foundation and its Nkafu Policy Institute, the 2025 Think Tank Week convened over 200 delegates from across Central Africa.

Recognizing the strategic value of the Central Africa Think Tank Forum, a diverse group of stakeholders—including senior policymakers from ECCAS member states, representatives of the United Nations system, the African Union, AfDB, GIZ, IDRC, ISS, the World Bank, IMF, diplomatic missions, and academic institutions—gathered to engage in substantive policy dialogue. Discussions addressed cross-cutting themes and urgent regional challenges, including employment creation, democratic governance, peacebuilding, health systems resilience, and economic transformation.

Initially conceived around a fundamental recognition that sustainable change in Central Africa requires more than isolated capacity building or sporadic policy dialogue, this landmark initiative represents a bold departure from traditional conference models. It is now being materialized through three interconnected programs that together form a cohesive journey from foundational leadership development to high-level policy engagement.

This year’s integrated approach delivered immediate and tangible results. Policy discussions were enriched by multi-generational perspectives—from the third cohort of emerging leaders, who brought fresh insights informed by their recent three-day training, to 25 executive leaders who applied strengthened institutional frameworks to address real-world challenges.

Central to the Forum’s success was its commitment to authentic, locally driven solutions rather than imported models. Speakers emphasized the importance of grounding the work of think tanks and civil society organizations in Central Africa’s unique historical context, developing sustainable funding mechanisms that safeguard intellectual independence, and confronting difficult issues, including systemic corruption and governance failures. The “Denounce, Protest, Propose” framework, introduced early in the discourse, emerged as a unifying principle that shifted advocacy from critique to constructive policy solutions.

Most notably, the Forum established a new model for regional collaboration that prioritizes intellectual rigor, ethical leadership, and practical impact over purely theoretical frameworks. Participants departed not merely with enhanced individual capacity, but as members of a strengthened regional network committed to elevating think tanks and civil society organizations from the margins to the center of policymaking.