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History, Aims & Methodology of the Brenthurst
Foundation
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The African Century
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To mark the Foundation’s
fifth anniversary, we have produced a publication on
‘The African Century’
chronicling the Brenthurst’s activities. |
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The Oppenheimer family established The Brenthurst Foundation in October
2004. The Foundation has its origins in the Brenthurst Initiative of August
2003, which instigated a debate in South Africa around policy strategies for
higher rates of economic expansion.
Today the Foundation is on the frontier of innovative development
thinking and knowledge in formulating strategies and policies for strengthening
Africa's economic performance. At the invitation of African governments it
works in the full spectrum of countries: From those emerging from conflict to
those diversifying their economic activities.
The Foundation has been established deliberately not to be another
academic talk-shop. While it identifies and shares international best policy
practice in international fora, it is concerned not only with ‘what to
do’ but the more difficult analytical question as ‘how to do it’
in turning good advice into tangible policy and seeing it through its
implementation. In so doing, it is founded on two fundamental precepts: One,
that economic growth is the best avenue for prosperity and political stability.
Two, to reiterate the words of Sir Ernest Oppenheimer, that companies should
have ‘a broad and deep involvement with the societies in which they do
business.’
Contrary to sweeping policy perceptions of Africa, answering the
‘how to’ question depends on taking a nuanced view of the continent,
country-by-country and sector-by-sector. To carry out these tasks, the
Foundation has developed a diverse and knowledgeable international network of
analysts drawn from policy specialists across Central and South America,
Central Asia, the US, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, and
Europe.
Employing this methodology, the Foundation has focused its activities in
the following three areas:
- Events: Running the annual Tswalu Dialogue each May in collaboration with
international partners, plus a range of international seminars and conferences
related to its thought-leadership role:
- Policy Advice: This has taken three forms.
- Government secondments and/or engagements in Rwanda, Liberia,
Lesotho, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe in Africa, and, in 2006, with the
International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.
- Liaison with the Commission of the African Union, which has
included, in 2009, collaboration on the Tswalu Dialogue, the speech on African
Competitiveness by Nicky Oppenheimer to the AU plenary in May, and also the
ongoing development of a maritime policy for the continent.
- Regular policy study-tours that Brenthurst has organized for its
African partners to a number of countries. These have the aim of exposing
African opinion-formers to development best practice. These trips included
participation by officials up to prime ministerial level, and have incorporated
meetings with current and former heads of state. Countries visited include:
Viet Nam (2007 and 2009), Singapore (2008 and 2009), Paname (2009), Colombia
(2009), Costa Rica (2009), El Salvador (2009) and Morocco (2008). Planning is
underway for a visit to India in the near future.
- Thought-Leadership: This includes the various projects the
Foundation has instigated often in conjunction with others such as:
The Brenthurst Foundation recognises the need for close public-private
partnerships in formulating strategies for African economic growth and
development. Overall, it reflects the Oppenheimer family's commitment to Africa
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