Former U.S. Ambassador Johnnie Carson, ex-President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, and 14 other global political and thought leaders are joining forces to provide strategic intelligence, foresight, and influence in support of Afrobarometer, the pan-African research network announced Monday.

As members of a newly inaugurated International Advisory Council, this who’s who of Africa-focused development will advocate for Afrobarometer’s mission to make African voices count in public policy and development.

Afrobarometer is in its third decade of collecting, analyzing, and disseminating reliable data on Africans’ experiences and evaluations of democracy, governance, and quality of life.

“The caliber of experience, leadership, and engagement represented on this council, from all across Africa and beyond, speaks volumes about the seriousness with which the global community takes Afrobarometer’s contribution to data-driven development,” said Carson, who will serve as chair.

“We’re excited to help build the future of this pan-African institution.”
Council members, who met virtually for their inaugural meeting Monday, include:

• Carson, former U.S. assistant secretary of state for African affairs and former ambassador to Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Uganda
• Johnson Sirleaf, Liberia’s president from 2006 to 2018 and Nobel Peace Prize laureate in 2011
• Lord Browne of Ladyton, member of the UK House of Lords
• Dr Willy Mutunga, former chief justice and president of the Supreme Court of Kenya
• Margot Wallström, former minister of foreign affairs of Sweden, EU commissioner
• Zeinab Badawi, international broadcaster and education leader
• Professor Nic Cheeseman, professor of democracy, author and newspaper columnist
• Professor Larabi Jaïdi, senior fellow at the Policy Center for the New South
• Abdoulie Janneh, former UN under-secretary general
• Attahiru Muhammadu Jega, professor and former chairman of Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission
• Peter Kellner, political analyst and scholar
• K. Riva Levinson, president and CEO of KRL International, author and columnist
• Professor Bhekinkosi Moyo, director of the Africa Centre on Philanthropy and Social Investment
• Dr Monde Muyangwa, director of the Africa Program at the Woodrow Wilson Center
• Dr Gerard Salole, social anthropologist and independent consultant
• Thomas P. Sheehy, distinguished fellow in the Africa Center of the United States Institute of Peace.