The African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) serves as the African Union’s Specialized Agency for Capacity Development.

With a track record of spearheading and robustly coordinating capacity development programs worth some 800 million US dollars across 48 countries and 8 regional economic communities (RECs) in Africa since 1991, ACBF has accumulated the necessary experience to be regarded as the go-to institution for expert knowledge and human resources to facilitate the timely implementation of continental and national development agendas. As the African Union’s Specialized Agency for Capacity Development following over 31 years of solid work, the Foundation is best positioned to advise and support African countries, regional economic communities, and institutions on decisive steps to take to develop the practical skills urgently required for the continent’s economic transformation.

Evidence from ACBF's cutting-edge work, comprising hundreds of knowledge publications, and the work of several partners, indicates that Africa's development efforts are being hindered by severe capacity deficits, often in the form of shortages of critical skills, deficits in leadership, inhibiting mindsets, and weak institutions. The continent’s practical skills shortage is particularly acute in key areas such as Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and Agriculture.

Africa's development necessitates improved governance to succeed with its ambition for transformation. However, this can only be achieved by addressing the significant skills deficit the continent faces, such as the shortage of engineers needed to tackle Africa’s infrastructure problems (4.3 million more engineers are needed) and the need to raise agricultural productivity to required levels (the continent needs 1.6 million more agricultural researchers and scientists). These are just a few of the pressing needs highlighted in recent ACBF reports.

Therefore, Africa’s development needs call for donors, governments, civil society, the private sector, and academia to invest in and support ACBF’s work. This support is not only based on its unrivaled experience in Africa in the world-class management of financial resources for large capacity development programs but also on its expertise in finding evidence, providing knowledge resources, and offering indispensable technical advisory services to African countries and institutions.

At ACBF, the organization will continue to leverage its unmatched track record in managing financial facilities for development, its extensive knowledge gathering experience thanks to the exceptional skills mix of its core staff, as well as its strong strategic partnerships and networks to help countries and institutions identify their capacity needs, advise them on how to address these capacity weaknesses, and guide them on where to find the knowledge and resources to develop the necessary capacity resources, effectively use them, and retain them to achieve their short and long-term development objectives.

The vision of ACBF is an Africa capable of achieving its own development. From 2017-2022, the organization is relentlessly working toward this goal by enabling the effective delivery of Africa’s continental development priorities such as Agenda 2063, providing country-to-country support, encouraging the private sector and civil society to effectively contribute to development, and producing evidence-based knowledge for capacity development.