Open Society Foundations award $1.1m grant to Afrobarometer to spur future growth
Afrobarometer is pleased to announce that it has received $1.1 million in institutional funding from the Open Society Foundations (OSF).
The two-year grant will enhance Afrobarometer’s positive research work undertaken across the continent for the past 20 years.
Afrobarometer has scientifically and systematically captured ordinary citizens’ experiences, aspirations, and priorities and widely disseminated the findings to policy makers, policy advocates, academics, the media, and funders in Africa and beyond.
Hawa Ba, Open Society-Africa Division Director for Participation and Expression, announced the grant Wednesday.
“We are delighted to provide this substantial support to Afrobarometer, which has positioned itself as a leading research organisation on the continent. Data and analyses generated by Afrobarometer are relevant to several Open Society-Africa priorities, including democratic governance, human rights, accountability, service delivery, and effective institutions.
Today, African governments, the African Union and regional bodies, civil society, private sector and academia depend significantly on Afrobarometer’s research. The wide range of users includes researchers and institutions outside the continent for which AB is a critical supplier of high quality and credible information on Africa and by Africans.”
OSF, founded by billionaire financier and philanthropist George Soros, provides grants to individuals and organisations that help citizens have a voice in shaping the policies that affect them.
In welcoming the grant agreement, Afrobarometer CEO Joseph Asunka said, “We are delighted and grateful to OSF for continuing to support our core programs. The new grant will enable us to deepen our reach and explore the next frontiers in surveys and data analysis. At Afrobarometer, we’re committed to meeting the highest standards in measuring ordinary citizens’ attitudes, experiences, and evaluations. The new funds will help us continue to do just that.”
Afrobarometer has redefined Africa’s data landscape by collecting and analysing the views of more than 350,000 Africans, representing the views of more than three-quarters of the continent’s population, on governance, democracy, gender, the environment, and other issues.
The pan-African research network is currently rolling out Round 9 surveys in 39 African countries.
About OSF
The Open Society Foundations, founded by George Soros, are the world’s largest private funder of independent groups working for justice, democratic governance, and human rights.
OSF provides thousands of grants every year through a network of national and regional foundations and offices, funding a vast array of projects – many of them now shaped by the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
About Afrobarometer
Afrobarometer (AB) is a trusted source of high-quality data and analysis on what Africans are thinking. With an unmatched track record of 350,000+ interviews in 39 countries, representing the views of 80% of the African population, AB is leading the charge to bridge the continent’s data gap.
AB data inform many global indices, such as the Ibrahim Index of African Governance, Transparency International’s Global Corruption Barometer, and the World Bank’s Worldwide Governance Indicators.
